Holden's Path Part V
by obey2084
Summary: After feeling overwhelmed, Holden decides to return home to seek help in sorting out his issues. Meanwhile, the Pokémon League Council is preparing to address Dwyer's foul behavior during competitions, but Holden volunteers to speak with him.
1. Chapter 45

**HOLDEN'S PATH**

Written by Obey

DISCLAIMER:

I do not own the rights to Pokémon. This story is for fanfiction purposes only.

INTRODUCTION:

This story takes place during the 6th Generation of Pokémon. At the time I came up with this story, I had played both the X and Y versions of the game, and took a liking to the style, which is why I mostly centered the plot around Lumiose City and the Kalos Region.

This story combines elements from the anime and the game series, where I made decisions, based on my judgment, on how to enhance the experience while striving to demonstrate realistic events from a world where extraordinary things happen.

Popular characters that are absent include Red, Blue, Gary, N, and Giovanni. Ash Ketchum is in the story and his existence created a potential conflict with Red's, and to keep things simple I removed Red. If anything, Holden essentially takes Red's place in the universe of this story. As for Giovanni and N, the drama surrounding their roles in the Pokémon world was inconvenient for the progression of this story, so they do not get mentioned. Another character not mentioned in Tobias, since he used legendary Pokémon in the anime, and I'm avoiding having them in league competition since they're too powerful.

The character ages were a challenge, and I tried to keep them consistent to a certain degree. At the beginning of the story, Holden is 25 years old, while both Ash and Serena are 20. Ash is armed with his Kalos lineup during this story. This means that the story takes place before Serena leaves the group to pursue her dreams.

This story is a representation of the experiences and observations I made during my days competing in Super Smash Brothers. Similar to that, there is a community and culture. There are alliances, leagues, trainers, cocky competitors. There is respect, and lack thereof. It's a unique world and people become part of it due to the constant inspiratational moments to occur, which I attempted to simulate in this story.

PLEASE ENJOY

**PART V**

"_You remind me of who I used to be when I was younger. I was disrespectful to the Pokémon League when I competed, and it ended up ruining things in my life. Instead of me suffering, it was my students who suffered, as my actions made life far more challenging for those associated with me as a result."_

-Holden Hoffman, head coach of Apex Academy

"_You know, love makes you do crazy things sometimes. And our dreams take us to unexpected places as well. If you're willing to do what it takes, there's always a way to make things work out in the end."_

-Habs, movie star and pokémon trainer

CHAPTER 45.

ONE MONTH LATER

The sun had just overcome the clouds blockading its rays over Saffron City. The morning was proceeded by the afternoon, and the day was a pleasant one. Business in the city was moving along as always, even though it was the weekend. After all, it was the biggest city in the Kanto region. It was also Holden's former hometown, though now he'd moved to Lumiose. Today, he was back to visit, and he had one particular place on his schedule. However, it would be no small feat actually seeing it through. After taking a cab from the train station, he arrived at his destination, a neighborhood of homes located in the southeast corner of the city. From there, he recognized the one house he was looking for, and hesitantly approached the front door. Once there, he outstretched his hand to it, only to pull it back. Nothing about this was easy for him, but he'd made up his mind. He knocked four times and then waited.

After what felt like a long time, the door slowly creaked open, and on the other side was Holden's mother, Marcy. She was standing in disbelief, as she brought her hands to her mouth to try and contain her emotion. When Holden saw her, he felt his breathing cramp up, and he was unsure of what to do. Unlike him, his mother knew what she wanted to do, and she came forward and wrapped her arms around her son tightly. "Holden! Oh, Holden! I missed you so much! Holden!"

Her voice was so loud that it alerted Holden's father, Anthony. He came running to the front door and realized it was true. "Holden…" he stammered, and went in to join the hug. Holden tensed up as they constricted him with hugs, after not having seen him for years.

Eventually, Holden's parents were able to contain their emotions long enough to look him over. "You've grown so much," said Marcy. "I can hardly believe it."

"We've been watching you compete on the television," added Anthony. "Son, you've been doing amazing. We're both so proud."

Holden nodded as he took everything in, still unsure of how he should feel about everything. Sensing he was a bit overwhelmed, Marcy motioned for him to come farther in the house. "Please, come in. Have a seat. I'll heat up the coffee and we can talk." For a moment, Holden glanced away from the house, and his mom noticed it. "Holden, please, come in. It's been so long…please."

When he heard the concern in her voice, Holden turned back and nodded. "Of course. Yeah, I'll come in. Sorry, it's been…a lot has happened." They were both relieved when he agreed to it, and they escorted him to the living room and the couch. Holden sat down on the edge of the couch farthest from the TV, where he used to always sit and watch pokémon battles when he was a kid. It was the same as he remembered it, even though more than a decade had passed. The pictures were still on the walls and the kitchen had the same table. However, the television was a new one, along with most of the chairs. Also, the carpet had been redone, and was a metallic blue now instead of the original dark grey from years ago. Even so, what really caught Holden's attention was the sight of familiar objects in the house, rather than the new ones, for now that he'd returned, he inexplicably longed for signs of his childhood.

While Marcy went to prepare the coffee, Anthony sat down next to Holden, keeping an eye on him as if he would vanish the moment they lost sight of him again. Anthony was very short, and his head had already begun to bald. He had a decent brown beard, which seemed to make up for his bald head, and he was wearing his gym shirt, since he'd come back from a run earlier in the morning. "Holden," his father spoke up. "You know…we haven't heard from you in so long."

Holden recalled all that he'd been through, and suddenly he felt as though he'd overlooked his parents many times in his life. After all, they constantly reached out to him, yet he rarely said anything to them in return. It hadn't been easy for him leaving this home back when he was 12, but he'd worked very hard to make sure he never needed to return. Yet, here he was now. "I know, and…I'm sorry."

Anthony tensed up with emotion at those words, but he shook his head as his eyes grew wide. "You don't need to apologize to us, son. If anything, we owe you an apology. Everything that happened…all that we did…or, rather, what we _failed_ to do…_we_ are sorry, Holden. We are."

It was getting sappy, and Holden couldn't help but grin slightly. "All right, all right. I think we're past the apologies already." Anthony laughed in return, and felt some of the tension dissipate. Things were a bit calmer now. "Listen, dad. I came here to see you guys because…well, it's not easy for me to say this, but…I need your help."

At that moment, Marcy entered the living room carrying a tray with three mugs of Saffron Tranquility for the family. She'd overheard everything from the kitchen, and she had traces of tears in her eyes as a result. Still, she was smiling and happy to hear everything, and once they all had their coffee and were sitting down, they could get down to it.

"Mom," Holden said as he looked at her. "Dad," he turned to him next. "I left here years ago because I wanted to become my own man. At the time, I wanted to become a pokémon master, but…neither of you supported me. You both fought to erase those thoughts from my mind, and encouraged me to stay in school and continue to get educated. But I was young, and all I heard most of the time…was you telling me the word, 'No.' So, I decided to leave, and live out my dream." His parents kept their coffee down, entranced by Holden's explanation of his actions all those years ago. "As I grew older, and continued to do well, I thought that if I got any help from you guys, it would be bad for me. The thing was, when I was home with you, I felt like a child. But when I was out in the world, competing and doing my own thing…I felt powerful and free. I didn't want to subject myself to the old memories of my old life at home, because I was afraid if I did, then I might fall back into it and abandon all I accomplished. So, I stayed the course in my life and that's how I lived up to this day."

Though so much was on their minds, Anthony and Marcy were silently listening, holding each other's hands and giving their undivided attention. Holden shrugged his shoulders as he felt the weight leaving them while he got his issues out in the open with his family. "A good friend of mine…she told me if I reached out to my parents again, then they'd support me. Maybe, I'm a fool for thinking it, but in the last months, I've been…lost. Confused. Afraid. And well, I don't deserve it from you two after how I left, but I got to feeling desperate, and I didn't know where else to turn…"

Marcy reached for Holden's hand and placed hers on top of it. "Holden, honey, of course we'll support you. We _always_ wanted to support you. Years ago…we made the biggest mistake of our lives. We were trying to help you, but we weren't _listening_ to you. You were telling us what you wanted to do with your life, but we weren't listening."

Anthony put his hand on Holden and Marcy's now as well. "We just wanted to do what was right for you, but instead we ended up driving you away. And it's haunted us ever since. We wanted to reach out to you, to let you know we were here, and that we loved you…but we were also afraid we'd just drive you even further away the more we reached out. We had _no_ idea what else to do, so we…"

At last, Holden was beginning to drop what was left of his guard. He'd spent many years thinking his parents didn't really care for what he desired in life, and once he'd shut that door, he stubbornly refused to open it back up. Now that he did, he began to realize how wrong he'd been. "Mom, dad…I'm _so_ sorry," said Holden, finally permitting a few tears. "I should _never_ have put you through all that. And I should have come back to visit years ago." They all joined each other with a warm embrace. It had been long overdue, but at last they were reunited again. They were all in agreement to embrace forgiveness and forget about all the time lost. Now, they just wanted to be a family again, and that would be what propelled them forward.

Eventually, the three of them did get around to drinking the coffee. Things had lightened up much more now. "Holden?" said Anthony. "You were amazing in that tournament. I know you ended up falling short, but…your battles were incredible."

"Thank you," said Holden, though he was still sore over the end result. "I guess it just wasn't enough."

"And your academy," said Marcy. "You've been doing amazing things for your school! We saw you win the championship for your school, and we were so overjoyed. It was the most amazing thing we've ever seen!"

"Absolutely," added Anthony.

"Yeah, that was pretty amazing," Holden said in agreement. "Well, unfortunately, the new champion is the worst person ever. But we're stuck with him now."

Marcy shook her head. "Forget about him. He's a spoiled brat and he has no respect. A young man won't get far in life without having respect for others. Until he cleans up his act, he'll never mature." Anthony nodded in agreement to his wife's words.

That made sense to Holden. They carried on in conversation, until the sun had set, and night fell. Even then, they had dinner together, and Holden cleaned up the dishes and table after they were done. Everyone was getting tired, but no one wanted to go to bed. It was as if they were afraid of waking up and losing everything that had happened here today.

Eventually, Holden sat on the chair out front on the porch in the cool night air. The grass out front was tall and needed to be cut, and he remembered how he used to do that job when he lived here, even though he was very young. His parents brought out some hot mocha and sat next to him, so they could enjoy it together.

"I have to ask you something, Holden," Marcy said suddenly. "We see you with that lovely girl on television all the time. Is she your girlfriend?"

Holden figured it would come up eventually, so he just sighed when it finally did. "Serena…and she used to be…"

Marcy's mouth opened wide. "Holden! She was gorgeous! I'm sorry to hear that you two aren't together anymore! Won't you tell us about her, though? We've never been able to hear stories of your girlfriends!" Anthony gave his wife a stern look, urging her to ease off a little bit. She giggled. "Sorry, honey. We're just excited to hear more stories, that's all."

Holden wasn't upset, though it did sadden him to recall Serena. "We were together and things were going great. But then…I made a mistake and she left me."

This wasn't nearly enough information for his parents, and Marcy wouldn't have it. "Holden, I know there's more to the story than just that."

"Fine, fine," said Holden. It was very bizarre for him to be talking to his parents about a girlfriend, being that he'd never had that type of conversation with them, but he supposed it was about time he communicated with them about more mature subjects, being that he was 27 years old now. "Before I dated Serena, I used to see another girl named Jasmine, but I never told Serena about it. When she found out, she accused me of lying to her about everything and she left me." His parents were quiet, and gave Holden more time to explain himself, which he did. "I never had a girlfriend before. I had Jasmine who was kind to me back in the Johto region, and so I accepted her kindness. Then, things got more intense, and she started to urge me to always be with her and marry her. Since she was always helping me out, I hesitated to ever tell her no, until finally…I did, and she didn't take it well. So, it's all my fault, you see. I shouldn't have done any of that."

Anthony scratched his beard, but he came up with his thoughts very quickly. "Son, you were very young when you went through that. And yes, you should have told Serena about the things that happened with Jasmine. But something tells me if you go talk to this young woman, and ask her to forgive you, and I mean honestly from the heart…then I believe she'll take you back."

"Definitely," said Marcy.

Holden remained skeptical. "I don't know. I think she hates me now. But I…"

"Love her?" said Marcy.

"…Love her," Holden finished.

"Then you should tell her _that_," urged Anthony. "And if you truly feel that way, and so does she, then she'll see the truth in it. If not, then perhaps it's not meant to be."

Somehow, his parents had told him exactly what he needed to hear, which was a combination of both hope and fear. Perhaps, Serena wouldn't forgive Holden, but he had to at least give it a shot. He knew that he loved her, and it had pushed him to return to his old home and restore things with his parents. Looking back at everything, Serena had been the greatest thing to ever happen to him, and he hadn't appreciated her the way she truly deserved.


	2. Chapter 46

CHAPTER 46.

After spending the weekend with his parents, Holden returned back to his new home in Lumiose. His folks had refused to let him leave without promising to visit again soon, and he gave them his word. He even invited them to visit his new home in Lumiose once they had the chance, which made them very happy.

Now that he was back, Holden was ready to reach out to Serena again. Thanks to Ash, Holden found out that Serena was doing a photo shoot at Magenta Plaza. It would be pushing it, but Holden was going to take a chance and try to meet her there. Months had passed since they last spoke, but he knew inside he had to try again. If she truly hated him now, then he'd find out right away, though he was afraid all the same.

When he arrived at Magenta Plaza, he quickly saw a crowd of photographers gathered in the northern section. Several different young men and women were posing for them, along with their pokémon. Holden walked over to get a closer look, and then he saw her. Serena was wearing a green summer dress and white gloves, with her hair done very fashionably. Just as Holden noticed her posing for her photo, her eyes turned in his direction, and locked onto his own. Her face froze for several moments, and Holden didn't know what to say or do, so he just slowly raised a hand and waved to her. Serena looked very serious now, and eventually the camera man attempted to get her to refocus.

There was a bench just a few feet away, so Holden walked over and sat down. He was able to see Serena glance back over at him occasionally, so she knew where he was. Though it was possible he was interfering with her work, he had to take this chance. Even if he had to wait for hours, he'd stay put until her photo shoot was finished, and then he would ask her to hear him out.

As he sat there, Holden looked around and enjoyed the scenery. Lumiose was a beautiful city, and he enjoyed it here way more than Saffron City, which surprised him. The only thing that made his life tougher was that he worked every single day of the week, which had been taking its toll. Now that he was no longer the National Champion, he had less to deal with, but the Pokémon League still reached out to him constantly. Of course, the primary reason they were always calling him was because of the new champion, Dwyer. Needless to say, he was lots of trouble.

Less than an hour later, the cameramen were packing up their gear and preparing to head out. Holden glanced over when he noticed, but he didn't see Serena anymore. He couldn't help but sigh, figuring she'd made her exit as quickly as possible once she had the opportunity. Perhaps that was just the way things were now, and Holden was going to have to accept it.

Just as he was about to stand up, he heard a familiar voice. "Holden?"

When he looked to his right, there she was. "Serena," he said in astonishment. Just when he was about to give up for the day, she showed up after all. Now that she was there, he suddenly froze in place. Sensing he was being disrespectful, he managed to snap out of it. "It's good to see you again," he said softly.

A couple hairs fell over Serena's right eye, and she moved them aside. "It's been a long time, Holden."

She sounded grim, and Holden couldn't determine if she was happy to see him or not. He would have to proceed carefully. "I'm sorry, Serena. For showing up here, like this. I mean, maybe I'm out of line being here."

"No, it's all right," she said, and held both her hands together in front of her.

It had been a long time since Holden had gotten to look at her, and she still looked beautiful. Her hair had a light green bow in it, and she was still in her green summer dress from the photo shoot. She normally wore knee high stockings, but this time she wasn't wearing them with this outfit. She did have on black stilettos, which looked to have worn out her feet by now.

Serena also took a long look at Holden as well. He'd shaved his goatee, so now his face was totally clean, and he was wearing his blue Apex hat as he usually did, along with a nice dark blue shirt. Seeing him again after so long was stirring up strong emotions that had been buried away, but Serena maintained herself in spite of it. She grimaced suddenly as she glanced down at her feet. "Give me a moment, Holden. I need to take off these shoes." He had no reason to oppose it, and nodded while Serena struggled to dig through her bag to find her flip flops.

Sensing that she was beginning to get a little stressed, Holden rose from his seat. "Here, you can sit on the bench." She ignored him at first, but after several seconds she looked up at the bench, and then nodded in gratitude as she took a seat. While she looked through her bag, Holden stood a few feet away and felt it would be respectful to look away. It was hard to believe the two of them used to be so comfortable together, but times had changed.

Once Serena had switched her shoes, she caught her breath and returned to her feet. "Sorry…my feet were killing me. I've never really gotten used to stilettos."

Holden grinned in understanding. "Knowing you, you probably took it like a champ. If it were me, I'd probably be in tears within ten minutes."

Even in her somber state, Serena found the humor in his words. "No," she said with a tiny laugh, "You'd be fine." Once again, her hairs were beginning to fall down in front of her face, and she had to brush them away. "It was really windy today, and it messed up my hair a lot. Hopefully, the photos came out fine."

"Of course, they did," Holden said confidently. Serena blushed slightly, but looked away to hide it. It reminded him of when they first started hanging out, and he missed those days. Holden sighed and took a deep breath. If he was going to speak up, now was the time. At least, he had to begin to address things. "Serena…I didn't want to ambush you like this, really. It's just that, I really need to talk to you…about everything. I know it's been a long time, but I haven't stopped thinking about it, and all I did wrong. So, I was hoping…you'd give me a chance."

Serena lifted her head up, as if she was going to look away, and it seemed as though she was trying to resist succumbing to her emotions. "Holden…I've thought a lot about things too. And…I don't think I can go through any of it again." Holden raised his hands up, as if he was about to protest, but he paused when he sensed she had more to say. "Maybe it's best if we just leave it, Holden. I don't know…"

"Serena," Holden said, eager to plead his case. "I know it's difficult, but please…I never got to talk to you, never got to explain myself. That's all I'm asking for right now. Please…" He was very calm, but it was evident he was growing more emotional internally.

Serena felt her breathing become labored as she was compelled to grant his request, but she was still resistant. "I have to go now," she announced suddenly. Holden's eyes grew wide with fear, and he felt a dart of pain inside when she said it. However, she didn't walk away just yet. "I have another event I have to be at," she clarified. "So…another time? Is that okay?"

Even though he was afraid, he quickly accepted the first chance of her agreeing to hear him out. "Yes, of course," Holden said quickly. "Any time is fine with me."

"You have work too, you know," Serena said with a faint smile. "I don't want you to get in trouble if you miss work or anything."

Though her concerns were thoughtful, Holden just shook his head. "It won't be a problem. Just tell me where and when, and I'll be there."

After taking a few moments to think it over, Serena came up with an answer. "I'm free Sunday morning. Maybe just coffee at Café Gallant? They have your favorite there."

That definitely appealed to Holden, though coffee was the last thing on his mind right now. "Perfect, I'll meet you there."

"Ten o'clock?"

"Ten o'clock."

Even with the meeting set, Holden didn't want to walk away. If he parted ways with Serena right now, there was a chance she'd vanish once again. He thought about his parents and how afraid they had been of him leaving again. It was the same thing, but with the role reversed, and that made Holden feel like a monster. Having put people through something like that—especially his own parents—filled him with heavy guilt. Even so, he was consumed with his desperation to have another chance to mend things with Serena. "Serena…"

Serena had a gentle smile and she held a finger up toward Holden's mouth. "I'll be there, Holden. Don't worry."

She was looking him right in the eyes when she said it, and in that moment he decided to believe her. "I'm not worried," he joked as he attempted to cover up his fear. "Why would I be worried?" They both smiled at the humor, but their smiles eventually faded out as well. Things were set, and Holden would have to trust in it, which was hard for him to do.

"I've got to go, for real," Serena said. "See you Sunday, Holden." She picked up her bags and began to walk quickly to the parking lot where her car was. Even though her feet still hurt, she was eager to not be late, so she rushed and powered through it. Holden looked on with additional respect for her commitment, and finally once she was out of sight, he made his exit as well.


	3. Chapter 47

CHAPTER 47.

When Holden completed the walk down Victory Road, he was mentally prepared to deal with things once he arrived. The walk had given him plenty of time to think everything over. However, there was no telling how the Pokémon League Council would be holding up over Dwyer's championship victory.

Traditionally, the council would invite the current champion to attend meetings regarding the National Championship, as a show of respect to hear about the experience and to gain input on the format. However, it was no secret that the entire league despised Dwyer greatly, and there was little chance he would be in attendance. Even so, Holden was preparing himself for the possibility because it would be no easy feat.

The first familiar face he saw was Professor Oak, who waved to his friend in greeting once he came into sight. Eventually, Holden walked up to him and shook his hand. The professor gave a friendly smile, but then his facial expressions become serious. "I must warn you, the council elected to honor its tradition, and has invited Dwyer to attend the meeting. However, as of this point, he has not showed up."

Now that Holden heard the news, it didn't seem to surprise him much. In this case, however, Dwyer's lack of integrity for the sport was good for those who would be in attendance, since now they didn't have to deal with his antics. Regardless of whether or not Dwyer was present, there was still a lot to address with the tournament, considering the controversy that unfolded during the event on numerous occasions.

The professor escorted Holden inside, and he gave greetings to the present council members, including Diantha. She was noticeably quiet today, and it seemed the events of the tournament still haunted her, though Holden didn't fault her for it. After all, the strange ruling during the grand finals had prevented her from using her Gardevoir, which ultimately cost her the victory. The people present for the meeting were council members Oak, Gurkinn, Lance, Cynthia, Koga, Wallace, Iris, and Diantha. Holden was no longer the National Champion, but they welcomed him to the council meeting anyway, out of respect. Holden had only recently mended fences with the league, so he sought to keep things working well with them, which meant offering his support whenever possible. "Good morning, everyone," said Professor Oak. "We have a number of items to discuss today, and by now, we've all had a lot of time to think on them."

"And a lot of time to sleep on them too," added Gurkinn, as he eyed Diantha, though he meant it out of respect.

Diantha nodded, and took the invitation to speak first. "This past National Pokémon Championship Series was the second highest rated one by fans in the history of the sport. It was a financial success, as well as a great hit with the fans, and yet it left a sour taste in many people's mouths, myself included." She leaned back in her seat for a moment to process her thoughts, so she would speak clearly and without too much emotion. "The Pokémon League had established special rules for the event, which affected the outcome of my final battle with Dwyer. Considering I am a _member_ of the Pokémon League, I wonder how I was never informed of such a rule."

Cynthia was sitting next to Diantha, and she placed her hand on the table in front of her, trying to give her consolation but also some space. "The Pokémon League Council made the decision to delegate the tournament official rules to Eliot Golding and Tohro Yamaguchi, who represented a joint effort from the Johto Pokémon Commission and the National Pokémon Championship Series. By combining their efforts, both the commission and the tournament would coordinate a successful event for the fans, as well as the competitors."

"We didn't expect anything to go wrong," Wallace explained. "They had the idea of inputting the special rule for this event only, since the double elimination format would only take place once every ten years. They officially made the ruling apply only to the grand finals, in regards to a bracket reset. If there was a bracket reset, both trainers would be prohibited from using any repeat pokémon from the previous set. If Dwyer had won the first match against Diantha, the rule never would have come into play."

Just going over it again caused Diantha's emotions to stir. "You're forgetting something else important: _He _knew about the rule, and I didn't. How did he find that out ahead of time? He took advantage of it, and it was the only reason he won in the end." The other trainers present were quiet as they considered her words.

Only Holden was willing to speak up. "Diantha?" She turned her eyes to face him now, and he took a deep breath and proceeded. "Something I know we have in common is we both can't stand Dwyer. Trust me on that. However, neither you nor I can deny that he found ways to outwit and defeat both of us that day. If we intend to become better, we must acknowledge our own shortcomings. Therefore, we must find ways to respect our worthy adversary, or he will outwit us next time as well."

Everyone glanced over at Diantha, eager to see her reaction, though no one else had been willing to speak to her in such fashion. Sure enough, she puffed up her cheeks, but she remained in control nonetheless. After waiting several seconds, Diantha merely nodded. "Maybe, Holden, but surely such an important rule should have been clearly stated before the start of the grand finals?"

"I agree," said Holden. "And when I spoke with the Johto Commissioner, Eliot Golding, he vowed to amend the rules so that any other strange terms were brought forth to our attention. Specifically, we're in the process of setting up a summit with commissioners from every region to assess the rules of competition for pokémon battles." Everyone was stunned in silence, and there was a good long period spent to appreciate Holden's contribution to this issue. Only a month had passed since the last National Championship, yet Holden had already been busy addressing many of the problems that had occurred. "To be honest, it's not the rules of battling I'm worried about," he resumed. "It's the rules surrounding conduct during competition. Dwyer has made a name for himself by berating and bullying his foes during matches, which is a poor image for the sport. It is also the primary reason why this previous tournament received criticism. Thousands of people were watching this at home, and aspiring trainers saw a bully winning, and that is not what the sport is about."

By now, the council members were beginning to see things the way Holden did when it came to Dwyer. "We could just ban him from competition," Iris suggested, though she was semi joking.

There were a few laughs from the council, and even from Holden, but he couldn't agree with such a move. "Unfortunately, we cannot simply solve our problems with such an abuse of power. The more we try to run everything in this sport, the more we have the potential to ruin it. Think of it as training your pokémon. You want to give them commands, and to control them in a sense, but for them to succeed, you must let them battle and rely on their abilities to carry them. In other words, you must relinquish control at times and let fate run its course."

This all seemed to tie in with Holden's training methods, but now that the Pokémon League respected him more, they were able to look into his recipe for success and appreciate it. It also made the council members feel guilty for the times they potentially abused their power in the past. "Maybe you're right, Holden," Gurkinn said. Of all people, it was this man who Holden was most surprised to hear from in this position. "So your proposal is to do nothing? To let fate run its course? I don't think I can accept such a proposal."

"He's right," Cynthia agreed. "We cannot simply do _nothing_ after all the unsportsmanlike conduct Dwyer committed. He must be disciplined, and the rules must be amended."

With the way things were going, Holden had yet another idea, though he wasn't going to enjoy suggesting it. Perhaps, it would be the best way to deal with the problem. "I've come up with a way to deal with Dwyer. Yes, the council should do nothing, but let _me_ take care of him instead." Everyone was confused as to just what Holden was implying, but he explained himself. "I'll meet with Dwyer and try to reason with him. I'll talk things over and get him to clean up his act."

Everyone laughed at how impossible it seemed, even Gurkinn. "How exactly do you intend to do that?" the old man asked between chuckles.

"I'll treat him with respect," replied Holden. "I'll talk to him and get him to recognize the error in his ways. If I can't use ethics to convince him, I will resort to logic. I'll tell him if he continues to act rudely, then he'll risk being penalized, or even banned, from competition. Whatever it takes, I will deal with him. _Me_, not the Pokémon League. I am not a member of the council, and thus the council will not be taking on the burden of this poor character. Therefore, the Pokémon League will avoid trying to control things, and the world will see the sport work out fine without the league overstepping its bounds." The entire room was quietly evaluating Holden's words, and they sounded very reasonable, though it did place the burden entirely on him. "During the commissioner summit, anyone from the Pokémon League Council is welcome to attend, and from there, it will be known that the league got involved in running things effectively with the commissions, so no one will accuse the league of doing nothing. It will solve all our problems if it works out."

"You mean, _if_ you can convince that punk to show some respect," Iris reminded.

"I'll find a way," Holden insisted, though even he had his doubts.

In the end, they all turned to Diantha, who was the one most impacted by Dwyer's negativity. She actually looked very concerned for Holden in this. "Holden, I don't think it's right that you take all this on by yourself. Dwyer is not just your problem to deal with. It's unfair for you to be in this position."

Even so, he shook his head. "It's the perfect chance for me to repay all of you for giving my students the opportunity to compete. If it's easier to accept, try to look at it that way."

Diantha smiled for the first time that day. "You continue to be persuasive, Holden. Good luck with the punk."


	4. Chapter 48

CHAPTER 48.

The first problem in dealing with Dwyer was that he lived in Jubilife City…all the way up north in the Sinnoh region. It had been many years since Holden last traveled to Sinnoh, and even then, he knew nothing about the region or the geography. Fortunately for him, Cynthia offered to travel with him, since she hailed from Sinnoh. She was familiar with the area where Dwyer lived, and could help Holden find his house. At the very least, she would help him find his way around the city until he got more comfortable.

With these plans in place, Holden wasn't going to leave town just yet. It was Sunday morning, and he had to meet with Serena today.

When Holden arrived at Café Gallant, he was nearly thirty minutes early. He didn't care, though, and found a table with two chairs near the back, which offered more privacy. For the next twenty five minutes he sat there, until Serena finally appeared walking over from the road. When she saw Holden sitting there, her lips tightened nervously, but she walked over to the table anyway. "Good morning," she greeted.

Holden stood up from his chair upon her arrival. "Good morning," he replied, and offered her the seat across the table.

She glanced at it, but was a bit confused. "We need to order our coffee first."

Holden chuckled in embarrassment. "Right…sorry." Serena turned and was ready to approach the front, but Holden held an arm out in front of her. "Don't worry, it's on me. My treat." She gave him a suspicious look but nodded and took the seat. Holden rushed over to the counter and put in the order, much to Serena's amusement. He was very jumpy and nervous, in ways she'd never seen before. Even with the somber mood she was in, she still found humor in him.

Eventually, Holden sat back down, along with two cups of coffee. "Thank you," said Serena, as she received her beverage and enjoyed a nice sip of warm coffee. Holden nodded back and drank from his as well, and his addiction received its fix for the morning.

They both spent a few minutes enjoying their coffees before Holden finally started to speak. "Thank you for seeing me, Serena."

"Holden…" she spoke before he could say anything else. "I'm agreeing to speak with you, but I want to know the truth. If we're going to do this, I want to know _everything_."

With a nervous gulp, Holden tried to zero in on what she meant specifically. "Everything?"

Serena glared at him. "Jasmine. And anyone else you may have had relations with."

That cleared things up, and Holden's heart was beating with intensity. "Jasmine…."

"You said she meant nothing to you," Serena said, calling him out on his words. "So, why then? Why be with her if that was how you felt? How did you think that would inspire sympathy or understanding from me?"

"I said I didn't care for her _in that way_," Holden corrected her, doing everything in his power to stay calm, even as Serena was heating up. He took another breath and then resumed. "But…I did lie to you." Serena's face twitched as her eyes glared into Holden's with fire and anger. He had to act fast. "I met Jasmine when I was 16. I competed for the Mineral Badge at the Olivine Gym where she was the gym leader. After I won, she took a liking to me, and when I told her I dreamed of competing in the National Championship, she decided to sponsor me for it. Thanks to her, I got to compete in my first National Championship, and that became my life going forward."

Serena was still glaring, but she leaned back and calmed down somewhat, which helped Holden feel a bit more at ease too, so he continued on. "While I was staying in Johto, Jasmine did many favors for me, and I was grateful for her kindness. Then gradually, she began to grow more and more affectionate, and I realized what was actually happening. Even so, I was driven on my mission to achieve my goals in life, and I never intended on staying in Johto permanently. I ended up leaving, and she accepted my decision." Though it seemed reasonable enough, Serena knew there was more, and she was far from satisfied. It was easy for Holden to notice that, but of course, there was more to add. "I went to Johto a few other times, and anytime I did, I spent time with her. She would let me stay at her place sometimes, or even offer me money for a hotel, but by then, I had money from competitions and could pay myself. It was just the fact that I had such a good friend to look out for me…that's what I cherished most. I didn't know how to tell her 'no' because she was always offering me so much. For every offering I refused, there were two more that came along as well, and I couldn't tell her 'no' all the time. Then, the last time I saw her was when I did Apex Academy Johto's one month seminar two years ago. She got really emotional this time, and tried to convince me to leave everything to settle down with her, but I refused. After that, she never spoke to me again." With his story concluded, Holden felt saddened after reviewing the events himself. Suddenly, he realized how much it must have hurt Jasmine to go through such a thing, and he'd never given it enough consideration. This plagued him with guilt.

After giving it a few moments, Serena moved on. "Did you kiss her?" she asked.

"Serena…"

"Did you?"

"Yes," he answered.

"Did you love her?" she asked, not faltering with her interrogation now that they both reached this point.

"No, I didn't," he replied. "But maybe I should have. Why wouldn't I with all the good I was receiving? I don't know, it never felt right to me, but I didn't think it would lead to so much bad. I was stupid, but I never meant to hurt her, or anyone. Please, try to understand, she was relentless and I _did_ tell her no, many times, but she never accepted it."

"Because every time you contacted her, you got her hopes up all over again," Serena explained. "You caused her to fall in love with you."

There was no use arguing over it, at least in Holden's eyes. "Yes."

"It was irresponsible of you, Holden," Serena stated sternly. "But…you _were_ really young. Still, you must understand what you did by now?"

He nodded his head, though he needed to clarify. "At some point, I realized what she'd become, and what was happening, yet I failed to do the right thing and talk to her about it. For that, I failed, and I'm sorry. If she would ever speak to me again, I would tell her sorry as well. I did apologize to her the last time I saw her, but it wasn't enough. I left her devastated, and never did her justice with an appropriate explanation."

This was all so much, but at least Serena understood things to some degree by now. "Did you cheat on me with her?"

He didn't hesitate to respond. "No, never."

She was looking deep into his eyes when he replied, searching for any trace of deceit, but found none, for it was true. After a few intense moments, she nodded. "Why didn't you tell me about her before?"

"I didn't think it would matter…" Holden replied. Before Serena could lash out at him, he continued. "I know it was stupid of me. I've been pretty stupid, Serena, and I'm really sorry. I've never…I've never been in love before, and I messed it all up because I didn't know what I was doing."

Serena's eyes widened when she heard the word. "What?"

He reviewed his previous sentence, and became aware. "Serena…I love you. I pretty much did from the minute I met you. When we got together, it was the most genuine experience I've ever gone through. It felt as though it was real from the very beginning. I love you."

She was no longer glaring, and now she was close to crying. Still, Serena resisted letting her emotions override her focus. "Holden…I'm not ready yet. I want to, at least, a part of me wants to very badly, but I'm not ready. There's just too much…."

As badly as he wanted to convince her, Holden sat back in his seat and had to accept it. He had a decision to make: either fight with everything he had to get her back now, or give her what she was asking for, which was time to think it over. After screwing up so much already, it was the latter which was the better choice. "Okay, Serena. I'll wait. I won't mess up anymore. I'll wait, I promise."

Serena weighed in on Holden's words and sighed. "Holden, I don't know if I can do this again. Maybe, you shouldn't wait. Maybe, we should just stay split."

This added pressure to Holden, but he wasn't going to lose faith. "I know I ruined things, but my feelings for you were always genuine. I'm smarter now, and I won't make mistakes again." She tilted her head and looked at him skeptically, so he had to be more realistic. "Okay, fine, I'll make mistakes from time to time. I'm not perfect, after all. But I _won't_ ever hurt you like that again." He slid his hands across the table, hoping to hold hers once again. "Please, Serena. Let's just…give it some time. _I'll wait_."

Finally, Serena placed her hand on top of Holden's right hand, and he felt her skin again for the first time in many months. "I won't promise you it will work out," she explained. "But I will promise you I won't keep you waiting long." With that said she slid the chair back, stood up, and made her exit. Holden turned to watch her leave with sad eyes until she was out of sight. Inside, he hoped he would see her again, and the reminder of how hard it had been for his parents to fear losing their son again came back to him. This feeling of love was a brutal one, but he couldn't deny its existence.


	5. Chapter 49

CHAPTER 49.

Jubilife was known as the City of Joy, though Holden wasn't feeling joy in any fashion. Though he had volunteered to take on the responsibility of dealing with Dwyer, he wasn't going to enjoy anything about it. In fact, this would be very taxing on him, and he'd been mentally preparing for it ever since.

Once the train came to a stop, Cynthia stood up from her seat first and grabbed both of Holden's bags for him. She was tall, had long blonde hair, and usually wore a trench coat. This time, her coat was a grey one, as opposed to her recognizable black one she was known for. "We're here. Get up," she said with authority.

Holden looked up and was suddenly intimidated by her. Cynthia was really tall, and she towered over him, but it was really her voice which commanded respect. Before this, Holden had barely spoken with Cynthia, though he'd always respected her as a trainer.

Once Holden climbed to his feet, Cynthia handed one of the bags to him. "It's almost show time, and you need to be ready." After taking a brief look up and down at him, Cynthia gave out a tiny grunt. "I don't want to see you sulking the rest of this trip. Stand up straight and maintain posture." Holden wasn't used to taking orders, but he instantly fell into line in Cynthia's presence, which caused her to give off a smug grin, even though she was on his side. "Very soon, you'll be in the midst of the most antagonizing person you'll ever deal with. He's rude, arrogant, unpleasant…and also the National Champion. If you hope to stand a chance in engaging with him, you'll need to be strong."

With that said, Cynthia turned and began to exit the train, with Holden right behind her. Once they got outside, the cool breeze of the northern city hit Holden quickly. It was far different than the hot and humid climates he was used to down south. At least, it was still summer, though autumn was not far off, and the sun still had its way with the daytime temperature. While walking, Holden began to see some of the sights of the city around him, such as the Trainer's School, which was a successful place for students to learn about pokémon in classroom settings. Farther north was the Jubilife TV Network Building, which broadcasted TV stations for the city residents. Also in the north was the Pokétch Company, where the family owned business manufactured and distributed Pokémon Watches throughout the region and beyond.

Apparently, Dwyer lived in the condominiums located in the northeastern part of the city, so that was where the two travelers were headed. Eventually, Cynthia broke the silence and spoke more to Holden. "How did it go with her?" she asked suddenly. When she glanced at Holden, he was a bit dumbstruck over the question, and Cynthia just grinned. "I know she's the reason you're so down right now," she continued. With everything on his mind at the moment, Holden did not wish to share any of his personal matters, even with Cynthia. However, she wouldn't be so easily swayed from her attention to the matter. "What did you do to make her so upset?" she interrogated further.

Hoping to quell the subject by giving a simple response, he took his chance. "I lied to her."

Cynthia channeled her gaze to Holden when he gave his response, inspecting him, as if she was identifying the factors of his body language. "So…it's all _your_ fault then?" she finally said in response. Holden could only nod to confirm it, but when he did, Cynthia looked annoyed. He didn't understand what she was up to, but she didn't make him wait long to find out. "I lost respect for you at one point, Holden." He sighed but was careful to hide it from Cynthia as she pressed on. "It wasn't when you tried to replace Sabrina's gym in Saffron City, it wasn't when you discredited other pokémon trainers, and it wasn't even when you defied the Pokémon League. I lost respect for you…when you retired."

Her words made Holden begin to think back to those events so many years ago. With everything he'd been through, he'd never really spoken with Cynthia and found out how she felt about him. It was very revealing to hear her speak on it here today. "You let me down, Holden," she explained. "You gave up, even after all your hard work. And instead of fighting on, you blamed _yourself_ for everything that went wrong. You thought that taking responsibility meant taking all the blame as well, on all the errors in your life, but I'm here today to tell you that's not the right path either. The Pokémon League couldn't _handle_ you, because you were beating them at the sport they loved, and you were innovative and logical in ways they had not yet been capable of…myself included. You made mistakes, but so did we, and that is the full truth." She took a moment to let that sink in before addressing her next point. "As far as your lady friend goes, you may feel that blaming yourself for everything will make it possible to fix things, but you're doing her an injustice by saying that. No doubt, the two of you have much to talk about and sort out if you intend on having a relationship, and I mean in terms of the interests of _both_ your lives."

Just then, they arrived in front of the condos where Dwyer lived, and they came to a halt. Holden was deep in thought over the advice he'd just received, and he was still shocked to have heard all of it from Cynthia of all people. She was intense, but fair, and she had a strong sense of character which qualified her to share her opinions with clarity. "Cynthia…thank you," he tried to express gratitude amidst his confusion.

Cynthia just sighed and looked away, though that was her way of accepting gratitude. She pointed to the third section of condos and said, "He's in the building just past that one. Remember, you took on this burden, so don't try to back out of it now. The Pokémon League didn't send you. You went to meet with him _yourself_. I've done my best to clear your head of the things weighing you down, so keep focused on your task now." Once she'd finished her pep talk, she turned around and began to make her exit. However, she added one more thing. "Holden…you're a good person. You have reclaimed my respect again. And when we meet again, after this visit to Jubilife, I expect to see you in battle when I compete against you in the National Championship."

This announcement made Holden smile in proud anticipation. His mind was cleared, and he was fired up on top of that. Once Cynthia left, Holden turned and walked forward to go and confront Dwyer.


	6. Chapter 50

CHAPTER 50.

When Holden passed the first batch of condos, the second one was actually larger, and he quickly identified Dwyer's condo based off Cynthia's description. Unlike the others, it had its own section on the left side of the building, so that the sun rising in the morning wouldn't blast through the windows. There was also a large grass field just outside, and it was designed to be some sort of pokémon battle square. At the moment, there were kids hanging out on it, talking about different things while they were there. Holden didn't pay attention to them, and instead went to the front door. After taking a deep breath, he knocked three times and waited for the response. A few seconds passed, and then he heard a loud voice from inside yell, "Sam! Get the door!" As Holden strained his ears to try and confirm it was Dwyer's voice, the door finally opened and a young boy was standing there looking up at Holden.

Having not expected to see a child answer the door, Holden was caught off guard. He'd been prepared to face off against Dwyer, but now that there was a kid there instead, he toned things down. "Good morning. Is Dwight in right now?"

The boy looked nervous as he nodded in response. Suddenly, Dwyer appeared in the living room and his eyes lit up with excitement when he realized who was at his front door. "Holden Hoffman! I would never have guessed _you_ were at my doorstep! That's hilarious!" He was dressed in a white undershirt and wearing his gym shorts, as if he were about to go out running just as Holden had shown up. His hair was longer now, and he was putting gel in it to keep it styled, even though he looked like he was going to be working out.

Holden gave Dwyer a stern look, but resisted revealing his full disdain. "Dwight…."

"It's Dwyer," he interrupted. "Only little Sam here gets to call me Dwight." He roughly placed a hand on Sam's head and pushed him around, while Sam stood there quietly, as if he was afraid to say anything in response. When Dwyer saw the boy's reaction, he just waved his hand in the air to dismiss it with a laugh. "He's not much of a talker…yet. Wait until he grows up though, and follows in his brother's footsteps." That now confirmed to Holden that Sam was actually Dwyer's younger brother.

"Dwyer," Holden said, correctly this time. "I'm here to speak with you."

"Speak with me?" Dwyer pointed at himself as he gave an overdramatic look of surprise. "Did you make an appointment? I don't meet with people unless they call ahead. And I don't recall getting any messages from you, Holden. No, you just came all this way and showed up at my house. How'd you even find out where I live? Is this what pokémon champions must go through?" His words were coming out fast, but he seemed to enjoy every moment of his own gloating.

Holden was still calm, but it was hard not to feel out of place here. After all, when Holden first encountered Dwyer, he'd at least won their battle, and thus had that as ammo if the two of them traded words. Now, however, Dwyer won the last time out, and he was the champion as well, which gave him all the power to abuse. The first thing Holden could think of was Dwyer's brother, and so he asked him about that. "You live here with your parents and little brother?"

The inquiry appeared to cause Dwyer to respond with a degree of normalcy. "They're rarely home, and Sam has school during the week. I had that field over there designed to train pokémon. But…" Dwyer noticed the three kids standing on the grass where his battlefield was constructed. "I told you little kids to stay off my field!" As soon as they looked over and saw it was Dwyer, the kids bolted out of sight. He laughed at their reaction, and then turned back to Holden and Sam. "I don't even mind if they're over there, really, but it's hilarious to watch them run."

"You set that up?" Holden asked. "It's impressive. You did all your training right there?"

"Holden, Holden, Holden," Dwyer said, not acknowledging the question as he crossed his arms in front of him. "If you really came all this way to ask me about my house and training methods, then I'm going to have to disappoint you. I don't simply share my routines with people like you. And the last time I checked…we aren't even friends. So maybe you should come up with some good reason for being here right now, or I'll tell you to get lost just like those kids back there."

Even Sam backed farther into the house, though he still remained watching, curious to see how Holden would react. As Holden heard the threatening words, he was finally pushed to the point where he would embrace the confrontation. Remembering Cynthia's words of advice, he stood up straight and maintained his posture as he spoke. "Dwyer, I came here to tell you some things. Things that may help you realize how reckless you've been with your recent position in the sport. If you had any sense, you'd hear me out."

This time, Dwyer grew more serious, especially now that he noticed Holden's composure. It was enough to sway him to comply with the request. "Okay, fine Holden Hoffman. Let's go over to my field, and we can talk." Holden nodded and walked ahead of Dwyer, not waiting for him to take the lead. Dwyer growled quietly at the gesture but followed, and when Sam began to peek out from the doorway, he shouted, "Stay inside, Sam." With no objections, Sam shut the door.

Once the two trainers were standing before the field, Holden got to it. "You've become the National Champion. Now you may think your work is done, but in reality, there's a ton of obligations that come with being champion. You're now a representative of the Pokémon League, as well as the entire sport of pokémon battles. That means that when you act poorly, you make a poor representation of the league and the sport. If you continue to go this way…you'll quickly find out how bad things get."

Instead of being concerned, Dwyer just laughed in amusement. "Unbelievable. Holden, the Pokémon League messenger boy. You were a champion once, Holden, and even before that, you were a force to be reckoned with. They whipped you into submission, though, and now you do things like this for them? I'm embarrassed for you." He scratched his nose rudely, as if he didn't have a care in the world over how others viewed him.

"I'm not here because of the league," said Holden, quickly dismissing that idea, though there was truth in it. "I came here myself because you remind me of who I used to be when I was younger. I was disrespectful to the Pokémon League when I competed, and it ended up ruining things in my life. Instead of me suffering, it was my students who suffered, as my actions made life far more challenging for those associated with me as a result." He paused to look over Dwyer, checking to see if any of it was sticking with him. "You have much ahead of you in the future still, Dwyer, but you'll only be making things much tougher for yourself if you keep on acting unprofessionally. So, the reason I came all this way, without calling or making an appointment, was simply to warn you to clean up your act, or you'll regret it."

Inside, Holden felt proud of himself for conveying the message, and in that moment, he thought it would surely work. After all, Dwyer had to have things he cared about, and he couldn't possibly be dumb enough not to see the risks he was taking if he kept on making enemies everywhere.

However, Dwyer had made it a habit to rarely do what was expected. "So, Holden, I should drop my act? I should act like they want me to, and be a robot? Just be the same as everyone else, and no longer continue to be who I am?" He let out a heavy sigh, and then smiled that annoying troublemaking smile once again. "You sound just like the person I faced in battle. You had things going well, and you thought you had figured out how to beat me, only to fall once I outwitted you. And then Diantha…she was the most hilarious one of all. I think she'll probably quit the sport after how I beat her. I mean, she was crying, I made her cry. It was hilarious." Holden glared now, and began to shake his head, but Dwyer wasn't done yet. "Don't you see, Holden? You all failed to stop me precisely _because _of my act. You always talked publicly about living the way you train, and embracing your competitive nature with your actual life. Well, here I am, following your advice from all those years ago. As for the sport of pokémon battles, it's clearly immature and weak, but I'm here now to fix that. I'll be the best representative of the sport anyone's ever seen, because there's more to battles than simply overpowering your competition."

Somewhere, in the midst of Dwyer's barrage of insults, there was actual knowledge of the fight game. Holden managed to grasp it, and in that moment, he learned that there was a reason to respect Dwyer. As unpleasant as he was, he was also very smart, and he'd figured out ways to use his intelligence as his secret weapon in pokémon battles, which had earned him the championship. "Very well, Dwyer. In that case, I have a proposition for you." Suddenly, Dwyer was intrigued, which was what Holden wanted. Still, he gulped nervously, and nearly reconsidered his decision, but he went forward anyway. "Come to Lumiose, and train at my academy…as a guest. If you do that, I'll defend you against the Pokémon League if they try to threaten you."

Dwyer was suddenly angry. "I knew it! _They_ sent you here."

"No," said Holden once again. "But I know them, and they won't be okay with having you ruin another event with your poor behavior. But they've come to respect me more now, and I think I can convince them that you're performing your champion duties if you show up at my academy to teach my students. Even if it's only a guest appearance, there's a lot they can gain from your insight. You may even come to enjoy it."

Though he was still suspicious, Dwyer eventually concluded that Holden was telling the truth. Still, he was unsure of whether or not he'd accept the offer. After taking several moments to think it over, he gave Holden a grin and then gave his answer too. "I'd love to come visit your dumpy academy, but rest assured your students will all leave you once they see how much better I am. You must be really brave having me go there."

Holden grinned in response, understanding how much more truth to that there was than Dwyer even realized.


	7. Chapter 51

CHAPTER 51.

By now, Holden had returned to his home in Lumiose at Apex HQ. Dwyer wouldn't show up for another few days, so Holden would have to wait until then to begin working with him. The thought of subjecting his students to Dwyer didn't make him feel good, but somehow he felt it would work out. Surely, being in the presence of respectable hard-working young trainers would encourage Dwyer to be a better person, or at least that was Holden's theory. The downside to this was that Holden would be subjecting his academy, as well as his students, to the poor excuse for a person that Dwyer was.

When Holden returned to his duties at the office, he noticed the workload was getting lighter. Now that the schools had been running more than a year, the coaches were beginning to handle things much better, including financials, and that was taking some of the pressure off Holden. In that moment, he made sure to acknowledge that fact, and to feel a sense of accomplishment and reassurance with his life.

However, as for the Pokémon League, things were on thin ice. Holden was going to do everything he could to fix up Dwyer, but at the same time, the Pokémon League was bound to resort to their old ways and give him the same treatment they gave Holden years ago. Perhaps, it was simply futile, but Holden recalled his promise to do his best. He was now committed to this mission, and he was going to see it through…somehow.

A few days later, Dwyer showed up at Apex HQ, along with his little brother, Sam. Berto went to let Holden know, and so he went out to meet him. He was surprised to see Sam there, and brought that up first. "Hello Dwyer," Holden said. "And Sam. You came too?" Sam looked up with nervous eyes, but he seemed eager to be there too.

Dwyer glanced down at his little brother and pushed him from behind. "Sorry, Holden, I forgot to tell you," he said sarcastically. "Sam needs his big brother looking after him while mom and dad are at work, so I brought him along. Don't worry though, he's pretty boring. See how he is right now? That's pretty much all the time." More laughs and Dwyer walked up to pat Holden on the back mockingly, and then he turned to look at Berto. "And who the hell are you?" Before Berto could answer, Dwyer walked past him and said, "Doesn't matter. Let's get things rolling! I'm stoked." Berto got heated, and faced Holden to make sure he stressed his feelings, but Holden could only shake his head and sigh. For now, it would have to do.

Once inside, Holden called the students to put a pause on the class and to sit in lines. "We have a special guest today. The newest National Champion has come to pay us a visit today." The students hadn't been told that Dwyer would be here today, and it was an unexpected appearance. However, most of the students were aware that Holden and Dwyer had been rivals during their competition, and they wondered why Holden had invited him to his own school.

First, Dwyer pointed to the seats off to the side, and Sam scuttled quietly off. Next, Dwyer walked over to the middle of the room and looked over the different trainers. "So you kids all want to become pokémon trainers?" There were nods around the room, as expected, and Dwyer looked at them suspiciously. "How many of you have competed in a tournament?" Since the school was new, only three of the students had ever competed, and they raised their hands in reply: Tommy, Shawn, and Peter. Dwyer sighed in disappointment, though it was merely to mock them. However, his eyes found Holden's for a moment, and he saw the stern look Holden was giving him. It did the trick, and Dwyer simply nodded and walked away before he said something insulting.

With that said, Holden instructed Yonny to resume the class along with Berto and Jack coaching. While the class took place, Holden sat in the back along with Dwyer to observe. The students were just wrapping up their physical training portion and they moved on to training with their pokémon. They all got into pairs and were experimenting giving instructions to their pokémon on how to evade attacks while also seizing openings for counter-attacks.

"They all look like they're afraid, Holden," said Dwyer rudely.

"They're just kids," Holden replied. "You cannot treat them so harshly. This sport is about growth, and we don't want to turn them away from it by being too hard on them."

"You don't want to go easy on them either," argued Dwyer. "If you treat them all like babies, they'll stay that way." He motioned toward Sam, who was in the same spot sitting quietly. "That little brother of mine is gonna be a beast once he begins training. And you want to know why? Because I treat him like crap all the time. You just wait and see."

It was a sad revelation for Holden to come across, and he shook his head and stared at Dwyer with disbelief. "You can't force your younger brother to become a pokémon trainer if he doesn't want to. And even if he does, how does it help pushing him around all the time rather than letting him act as he sees fit?" Dwyer seemed to be growing irritated, and Holden held a hand up to slow things down. "I don't know you that well, Dwyer, and I don't want to make assumptions about your family. All I'm saying is maybe you should go easier on him sometimes."

Dwyer just rolled his eyes and turned back to the class. Suddenly, he stood up and took a few steps forward. "You there?" he called out to one of the students training. Holden looked shocked at the rude interruption, and he scanned to see who Dwyer was speaking to, and it turned out to be Peter. "What's your name?" he asked as he approached the training floor.

"Peter," the student replied.

"Hey, we're busy with class here," Yonny said firmly.

"So I noticed," Dwyer said in return. "But I think you're missing something. And I'm gonna start by telling _you_, Peter." First, Dwyer motioned to Holden, urging him to come over as well. Holden was already regretting this decision of his, but he got up and joined the others. "Holden, release your Snorlax." As everyone watched in confusion, Holden reluctantly granted the request, and Snorlax appeared on the floor next to them. Dwyer nodded, and then turned to Peter again. "Tell me, if you saw this big guy standing here, what would you do? How would you fight him?"

Peter looked at Snorlax nervously. "I'd send a fighting type, because Snorlax is normal type."

Dwyer rolled his eyes. "No, no, I mean how would _you_ fight him? You, not your pokémon."

When Peter realized what Dwyer was saying, he didn't know how to respond. "I…I could never fight a Snorlax."

"But _if_ you were going to have to fight a Snorlax," Dwyer said relentlessly. "How would you do it? It's not that hard, kid. Just use your brain."

As everyone watched with impatience, Peter slowed down to focus and come up with a good tactic. After several moments, he presented his answer. "I would run around and try to get him to fall over, since he's heavy and would get tired?"

Dwyer stared with judgmental eyes at Peter, and eventually he held his hand up to the boy. "Can you repeat that just one more time? And this time, do it the _right_ way."

Peter took a breath, and then went for it. "I would run around and try to get him to fall over, since he's heavy and would get tired." This time, he said it as a sentence, rather than a question.

Dwyer still looked stern, but he nodded his head. "Now, that's more like it. You just outwitted Snorlax. Wasn't too hard, was it?" For some reason, Peter seemed to glow a bit with pride, but he settled down after looking around and seeing how irritated his coaches looked. Even so, Holden was watching with intrigue. At last, he got the chance to see how Dwyer trained, and what tactics he would come up with.

Next, Dwyer sent out one of his own pokémon: Gengar. The ghost pokémon stood with a grin on his face similar to Dwyer's, and was ready to serve his trainer. Once both Gengar and Snorlax were out, Dwyer waved Peter off and motioned for another student to come forward. It was a young girl who was 14 years old. "Name?" he asked her.

"Violet," she replied.

"Violet," Dwyer turned back to the two pokémon before them. "If I sent Gengar against Snorlax, what would be the best way to beat him?"

Violet was young, but fairly smart, and she knew the style of both Gengar and Snorlax. "Have Gengar use dream eater and nightmare to attack Snorlax once he's asleep."

"Not bad," Dwyer admitted, though he laughed in mocking fashion after, preventing Violet from appreciating the compliment. "But now, you're up against Holden Hoffman, the great _former_ champion. And guess what, Violet? He's a smart boy! He's gonna tell his Snorlax to stay awake and avoid those attacks from my Gengar. So then, what am I gonna do now?"

At this point, Violet didn't know what to do instead, so she was quiet. Dwyer pointed at Gengar, and tried to match the ghost pokémon's grin once again. "If I know my opponent will be smart, then I must battle him as I would a smart person. Therefore, he's going to predict my strategy, and therefore I will use one he didn't prepare for, and catch him off guard. There are strategies that work against people who are fools, but those won't work against wiser trainers. The funniest thing is the smart trainers become so smart that the best way to beat them is to use dumb strategies." This got a few laughs from the students now, and the coaches were stunned. Holden continued to watch silently, and he was beginning to see more of what he hoped for.

Dwyer sighed as he turned to look down at Snorlax now while he was next to Gengar. "Want me to tell all of you why I beat Holden the last time we fought? The big secret?" Everyone was dead silent, afraid to say anything to insult their head coach, but clearly they all wanted to know the answer. After giving it time to dwell on their minds, Dwyer finally gave it. "Holden has a powerhouse team of pokémon, and his power is his tell. He relies on his strong team, and they are going to attack eventually. Unlike his team, however, my team and I rely on intelligence. We manipulate our opponent, until we steal their advantage, and then we make our move. Believe it or not, my team of pokémon has power as well, only we don't use it so often as our opponents think. Instead, we rely on our wits, and we keep our enemies trapped by their own imaginations, wondering what is going on inside our heads as we battle."

Suddenly, everyone looked over and realized it wasn't Gengar on the field, but Zoroark, who'd been using his illusion to conceal his appearance the entire time. This appeared to work as a symbol of what Dwyer was trying to illustrate. Needless to say, the class was impressed by him…including Holden. After all, this matchup between Gengar and Snorlax, where Gengar turned out to actually be Zoroark was exactly how Dwyer had defeated Holden in the tournament.

When the class resumed, Dwyer joined the coaches and began to work with different students. Holden remained sitting and watching. He wanted very badly to join the coaches, but he couldn't let this rare moment pass by without him observing it. Dwyer was a natural when it came to confidence and battle tactics, and the students were being drawn to him. As unpleasant as the champion was to be around, he truly was talented, and Holden knew there had to be a way to get through to him. With what Dwyer was capable of, perhaps the best way to get him to clean up his act was to use his own tactics against him. Holden would manipulate Dwyer to do what he wanted, and use his own power against him. Not to win a battle, but to help Dwyer to improve his character as a whole.

Eventually, the class came to an end, and Yonny and the rest of the coaches closed things down. While they handled that, Dwyer went over to Sam and began talking to him, checking to see if any of the things he saw today sank in. Once the students were excused, Holden went to his own coaches and spoke to them to praise their patience, as well as apologize for subjecting them to Dwyer's rudeness. They weren't too happy with Holden, but they respected him enough to tolerate the decision, though he knew they were unlikely to put up with Dwyer another session.

Finally, the evening had arrived, and Holden and Dwyer were outside in front of the building. "You did well in there," Holden admitted.

"Of course, I did," Dwyer said and laughed arrogantly. "You, on the other hand, have been leading them astray."

As he looked over his nemesis, Holden felt it was time to really address some of the issues head on, though it wouldn't be easy to hear. "What's the deal with you, Dwight? Why are you such a terrible person all the time? Did something happen to you?"

Dwyer grinned and thought it over. "Let me see, Holden. I was raised happily by my parents, along with my little brother. I got everything I asked for growing up, and now they give me plenty of space to pursue my passions. So if I had to guess…nothing bad has _ever_ happened to me." As he said it, he was confident and calm in his assertion, and Holden saw no reason to doubt any of it. So then it wasn't something that happened, but perhaps…something that _didn't_ happen.

"You enjoy this life," Holden mentioned. "It suits you. Sound about right?"

Though it was obvious, Dwyer grinned mischievously. "Living the dream, Holden. I'm all about this life."

Suddenly, Holden grinned back at him. "Then trust me when I tell you this…begin to act accordingly to support this life of yours. Don't take it all for granted. And if something happens…if things fall apart…hopefully, you'll have someone there to catch you. Someone who cares."

Dwyer laughed in response, and kept on grinning, but Holden noticed the moment his grin appeared burdened. Just a tiny bit, as he was pretty stubborn, but he detected it all the same. Even Dwyer couldn't deny the path he was on was a lonely one unless he opened up to others, but for now he was set in his ways.


	8. Chapter 52

CHAPTER 52.

When Holden got the call, he answered it right away. It was Serena, which resulted in him rushing out from his office and to his car. As quickly as he could, he drove to Café Gallant and parked the car. Once he reached the café, he spotted her sitting at the same table as last time. First, he took a few breaths to calm down, and then he approached her.

Before he could greet her, she turned and saw him coming. She gave him a tiny smile and stood as he walked over, though he motioned for her not to. Even so, she was courteous, and pulled the other chair back for Holden to sit. He nodded graciously and took the seat, sitting down when she did.

"Holden," said Serena.

"Yes?" he said.

Serena shrugged and looked away for a moment, but then faced him again. "Thank you for coming," she said softly.

"Of course," he replied, getting settled into his seat in anticipation for their conversation. Serena looked grim, and Holden noticed it, but he didn't want to address it bluntly. If anything, he wanted to keep things positive, at least for as long as he could. "I've been meaning to tell you something by the way," he brought up. Her grim expression briefly changed to a curious one at his words, and he took advantage of that. "I went and visited my parents again."

"Holden!" Serena said with surprise. "Good for you!" She had to slow down and consider the possibility that things hadn't gone well, so she lowered her volume. "How'd it go?"

To her relief, Holden was smiling in return. "It went very well. I was…pretty nervous at first, but we…we managed to square everything away. We're going to keep in contact now and everything."

"That's great news," Serena said solemnly. "I'm so happy to hear that."

Holden held a hand up toward her. "I just want you to know, that…it's thanks to _you_ that I went to see them again. You suggested I reach out to them again, and I was pretty stubborn before, but…I just kept thinking about what you said, and then I finally decided to do it."

It was hard for Serena to fully comprehend just how deep this was for Holden, but she did nod and smile back at him. "You're very welcome."

After they got through that bit of news, Holden turned his attention to Serena next. After all, he sensed there was something on her mind, especially with how she requested his presence to begin with. "So," he said. "What's going on with you?"

Serena was no longer smiling, and she returned to looking grim. "I have to tell you something," she announced. Holden braced for the news, and then Serena spoke up. "I've been made an offer to be part of a television series. It's called Pokémon Fashion Road Trip. It's their first season, but it's a huge show, and has a big following already." As Holden listened to her, he was smiling since he was happy for her, but of course there was the other side of things. "If I join the cast…I'll be leaving…for a long time."

Instead of being concerned, Holden looked overjoyed. "That's great though. It's your dream to be a pokémon performer, and now you'll get to showcase yourself in every region. It's a wonderful opportunity."

Even with his positive response, Serena could only smile briefly. "Yes, you're right. It's part of my dream. Only…." Again, she looked down to the ground, trying to make sense of all that bothered her.

"Tell me," said Holden.

She looked back up, and now she had tears, causing him to cease smiling. "I'm afraid, Holden…I'm going to be away from home…I won't _have_ a home. And…what about you? What if I don't see you again?" She tried wiping the tears away, but that seemed to encourage more to follow.

Holden shook his head and leaned forward, offering his hands. "Of course, we'll see each other again. I'll always keep in touch with you, no matter where you go."

She didn't respond to his hands yet, but she did address his words. "Holden, I love you."

He felt all his emotion reach the surface inside. "I love you too," he replied.

She took his hands now, and lowered her head, letting her hair fall in front to conceal her torn face. "I don't know what happened. I don't know what went wrong. Everything was so nice, and then…things got so dark. I've been angry, but sad. I've improved my career, yet I feel lost. I just know…it all made so much sense when you were there with me. But now…in order to reach my dream, I have this big role, but _I don't want to take it_."

"Of course, you want to take it," Holden insisted. "I know you, Serena. I know you have a dream, and you deserve to live it. You're going to make it, one way or another, and you can believe in your ability to make the right decisions."

By now, she had an opening in her crying, so she looked up at him, right in the eyes. "But I'm _leaving_, Holden. What are we gonna do? It's not fair to you. I told you I love you, but my new job would take me away from you. I'm being unfair."

Holden squeezed Serena's hands firmly, and met her eyes with a more serious look than he'd ever shown her before. "I'll be with you, Serena. Wherever you go, I'll be with you. I'll support you, I'll cheer for you, and I'll _love_ you."

She didn't quite understand what all that entailed. "What are you saying?" she needed to clarify.

"There's a way to make it work," he explained. "There has to be. I just…I don't know what it is yet, but I'll figure it out. All I need is some time to do that." He got out of the chair and walked over to Serena, holding her hands the entire time. "Listen to me, Serena. I love you, and I'll keep on loving you, and we'll find a way to make it all work. If you trust in me…just say 'yes.'" She was breathing rapidly, struggling to think clearly even in her emotional state. "Just say, 'yes', Serena, and we'll make it happen," he was practically begging, though his faith was inspiring.

Finally, Serena gave her answer. "Yes."

He leaned forward and kissed her on the lips. She kissed him back, and then stood up and they hugged each other tighter than they ever had before. Now that he had her in his arms again, Holden would never let go.


	9. Chapter 53

CHAPTER 53.

There was a media conference taking place at the Loto-ID Center in Lumiose, which would have multiple famous pokémon trainers present…including Dwyer.

As a result, Holden would be attending the event, along with Serena, who had a media appearance scheduled there as well. Serena was dressed in her red dress she wore the time Holden had seen her at Hotel Richissime back when he first returned to Lumiose. Even with all they had on their mind from earlier in the week, they were ready to make their appearance at the event. Once they arrived outside, Holden massaged Serena's shoulders to psyche her up. "You'll do great in there. Just have a good time, and I'll be close by…keeping an eye on Dwyer mostly," he explained.

"Okay," she said with a smile, though she looked concerned for Holden now. "Good luck with _him_." He gave her a confident grin, but inside he knew he'd need it. After all, dealing with Dwyer was no easy task.

The two went inside and Serena was quickly met by two staff members, who were eager to get her over to the waiting reporters and fans. Holden avoided being spotted and quickly made his way over toward the hallway leading to the conference rooms. It was in the Amber room that the National Pokémon Championship Series Press Conference was taking place, and Holden had been invited, though his true reason for attending was to make sure Dwyer didn't get out of control.

Sure enough, Dwyer was wearing his bright pink t-shirt, a black and white cap turned sideways, and black open-fingered driver gloves. His Zoroark was standing next to him, posing for the cameras while Dwyer spoke with a reporter sticking a microphone in his face. When he noticed Holden had arrived, Dwyer turned and smiled at him with malicious intent. "There he is! The man of the time forgotten!" He walked away from the confused reporter and wrapped an arm around Holden's shoulder. "What's up, buddy? Want a picture with me? Let's do it!" Holden looked unpleasant, but the reporters were already snapping photos, and Holden had no time to escape. Eventually, Holden removed Dwyer's arm, which made Dwyer smile as he saw how uncomfortable he was making him. "No, I get it, Holden," interrupted Dwyer. "You always try to fix things. Sometimes, you just gotta accept what you cannot fix." As unpleasant as Dwyer was to be around, Holden sensed the validity in his words. Perhaps that was truly it, and there was no way to deal with him. This was the truth, and no amount of effort to delay the inevitable was going to change that.

The event continued on, and Holden met with reporters as well. Once he got into his element once again, things appeared to resort back to normal. He was used to being in the presence of the media often, and he didn't mind it too much. The one issue that was bothering him was Dwyer's behavior, but now that he'd begun to ignore him, he was much more at ease. After an hour or so, a large group of people migrated into the conference room from the hallway, and Holden noticed Serena among them. They spread out in the area and began to greet the guests and do photographs. Holden watched curiously, until Serena eventually walked over to him and smiled as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Guess they wanted us to make an appearance at the event in here since there's such good coverage for the National Championship."

It made sense, and Holden welcomed her presence all the same. However, it only took a few moments for Dwyer to butt in. "You must be Serena," he greeted her with a sly tone. As soon as Holden heard Dwyer's voice, he felt a raging bolt of anger inside him. Dwyer paid it no mind, and merely posed in front of Serena. "You are a stunning sight to behold today, Serena," he complimented her, though he was clearly sucking up to her.

Though she'd been informed on Holden's history with Dwyer, she upheld her manners and smiled at him, giving a slight bow. "Nice to meet you, Dwyer." She couldn't help but glance over at Holden, and then back at Dwyer, before pressing on. "I hear you too have been spending a lot of time together." Her intention was to keep things friendly, and she was probably better at it than anyone Holden knew.

Unfortunately, Dwyer was no ordinary person. He stepped forward between Holden and Serena, turning his back on Holden in the process. "Who? This guy? He's just someone I battle with sometimes. That just comes with my profession. In reality, I put my actual effort into more important matters." With that, he placed his left hand behind Serena's shoulder, pushing the limits of her patience, as well as Holden's. Holden growled, and clenched his hands into fists at the sight of Dwyer's disrespectful behavior. Before anything could happen, Dwyer motioned to the cameraman standing nearby. "You know what, Serena? We should get them to take a picture of us! You, the Kalos Queen, and me, the National Champion! It would be good for headlines."

Serena didn't respond, and just looked awkwardly toward Holden, unsure of how to deal with Dwyer's awkward attempts at intrusion. Unlike her, Holden had no issue with responding. "That's enough, Dwyer. Leave her alone."

However, the cameraman was on the scene with haste. "Actually, that's a great idea," he said. "I'll get some photos right now. Hold still and pose just like that." It only took a few moments for him to get photos of Dwyer and Serena standing next to each other, while Holden stood off to the side and suffered. Finally, the camera man lowered his tool and gave them the thumbs up. "Wonderful, just wonderful."

Even after the camera man left, Dwyer was motioning for more of them. "Come on over, guys. Let's get a few more." Fortunately, Serena ducked down and escaped the clutch of Dwyer's left arm, and laughed as she distanced herself from him. Dwyer puckered up and began to plead, though it was jokingly. "Aw, come on, Serena. Just a few more."

"No, no," she replied firmly, trying to turn the awkward situation into one of humor. "I think I'm cramping your style." With that said, she turned and walked back over to Holden, who was fuming inside, though he somehow managed to hide it from visibility. His eyes wouldn't look away from Dwyer, until Serena stood in front of him, blocked his view, and leaned forward to kiss him passionately on the lips. In an instant, Holden was free of his anger, and he kissed her back, resulting in a few claps and cheers from spectators in the vicinity.

When it was over, Serena smiled and pulled gently on Holden's hand. "Take me somewhere," she requested. With a look of pride now, Holden nodded and led Serena down to the exit door. Though neither of them was looking, Dwyer was stricken with a bitter feeling, and he revealed his true feelings briefly before swallowing it and returning to his cheap act for the press.

Once they were alone, Serena was giggling. "You weren't kidding about that guy," she said, referring to Dwyer. "He's trying _way_ too hard."

Instead of responding, Holden pulled Serena closer to him, wrapping his arms around her intimately. "You handled yourself very well," he said, giving her props. "I nearly lost it in there."

She stopped laughing and was serious, now that she sensed it was necessary. "He won't beat you again this year, Holden. You're better than him…at everything." They both began to laugh in response, seeing around that error, and Serena playfully punched Holden's right shoulder. "Everything that matters, anyway," she said, correcting herself.

Once things were winding down, Serena and Holden walked out, heading for his car, when they noticed Dwyer standing by the valet parking with his younger brother, Sam. When Holden saw them there, he realized Dwyer was arguing with the valet over something, while Sam stood motionless nearby. "Holden…" Serena said, motioning toward the scene.

Sensing what she was about to suggest, Holden shook his head. "I don't think so," he replied firmly.

"I think he may need your help," she said it anyway.

"I've had enough of Dwyer for one day at least," he insisted.

Serena gave him a disappointed look. "I wasn't talking about Dwyer," she reminded him. That caused Holden to consider that Sam was innocent in all this, yet he was always forced to be around his brother, even when he was so calm and quiet in comparison. It was enough to convince him to walk over and see what was going on at the very least.

"Dwyer," Holden said, getting his attention.

When Holden approached, Sam recognized him and looked over worriedly. Unlike his little brother, Dwyer was filled with anger for unknown reasons. "What do you want Holden? Leave me alone. I'm busy at the moment." His attention was on the valet attendant, who was standing firm and unflinching, even in the presence of Dwyer's rage. "For the last time, give me back my car!"

The valet kept his composure, though he was clearly irritated by Dwyer's lack of manners. "For the last time sir, you have to pay first, _and then_ I bring you the car."

When Holden became aware of the reason for Dwyer's anger, he rolled his eyes in embarrassment. This was the National Champion of the Pokémon League…fighting with the valet over not paying for his ticket. It was time to put a stop to it, and Holden walked over to the valet and patted his shoulder. "Thank you for doing your job, sir. This entire situation is actually my fault. I told my friend here I would pay the valet ticket, but I got held up inside, and I haven't actually paid it yet. If you'll give me just a few minutes, I'll take care of that right now."

The explanation satisfied the valet, and then Holden walked over to Dwyer and grabbed his wrist. "Let go of me," Dwyer demanded irritably. "What are you doing?"

"I'm taking care of you," replied Holden. He held Dwyer's wrist very tightly and surprisingly, it caused him to submit and go along with him. They didn't go far, and Holden marched up to the desk, paid the ticket, and received clearance from the supervisor. "You have a long way to go, Dwyer," Holden said to him. "I hope, for your sake, this is the last time you'll embarrass yourself like this. It's only going to go downhill from here."

After that, Holden began to walk back over to his car, where Serena was waiting. However, before he left, Dwyer was not content with the way things had gone. "You're nothing but a loser, Holden," he shouted, causing Holden to stop in his tracks. "You think you can make me forget that? No matter how fancy you dress, or who you hang out with, or what money you throw around…_I'm_ still the champion. And that _kills_ you inside, buddy. I know it must be the worst feeling imaginable."

Holden only turned back once, and had a smug grin on his face, which Dwyer couldn't help but notice. "Right," he said, with no ounce of bitterness detected. "You're the champ, buddy." With that, Holden walked away, and returned to his car. Once he drove off with Serena, Dwyer was standing in place, staring out and wondering how to make sense of his state of being. Sam eventually walked over and leaned against his older brother's side, hugging him in comfort. In response, Dwyer pushed his little brother away and stomped over to his car, which the valet dropped off now. Dwyer snatched the keys from the valet and jumped in the driver's seat, ready to leave right away. Sam hurried over, where the valet was nice enough to open the passenger door to let the child in. When Dwyer drove off, his anger was in his driving, and he was bitter at everything now.

Dwyer was the champion, yet he still had issues. Even with the most prestigious title in the sport, he was not satisfied. Rather than accept what he was beginning to make sense of, he continued to deny it. Surely, being the best pokémon trainer in the world meant he'd rise above all his problems. After all, when you're the best there is, you don't _have_ problems.


	10. Chapter 54

CHAPTER 54.

Instead of meeting with the entire Pokémon League Council, Holden was meeting with just Cynthia and Diantha in his office. Once they arrived, he offered them coffee, but they both refused. Unlike Holden, the others rarely partook in drinking coffee, reminding him of just how much he'd come to rely on it for his workload.

"How have things been with Dwyer?" asked Diantha, eager to hear an update.

Unfortunately, all Holden could do was shake his head and lift his hands up in disappointment. "I'm afraid I've been unable to get anything accomplished with him. He's just…too set in his ways. I'm sorry, I failed."

Both ladies were disappointed to hear it, though Diantha was the first to respond. "Enough is enough," she said, turning to Cynthia. "We tried it his way. Now, it's time to shaft him. Dwyer's been acting foul all this time."

"We'll do no such thing," Cynthia stated calmly, stopping Diantha in her tracks. "We are only a few months away from the tournament. If we issue a ban on him now, we'd be lowering ourselves." Unlike Diantha, who was constantly upset when it came to the subject of Dwyer, Cynthia remained composed. When she turned to face Holden, he flinched away at the thought of her disappointment in him. After all, he'd promised to take care of the problem, but he'd failed. "Holden…I put my faith in you to handle this task, because I trusted you would be the best person for the job."

"Yes, I understand," he explained. "And I'm sorry. I did my best."

"_If_ you were truly unable to bring Dwyer around," Cynthia explained. "Then…I don't believe he can be changed. Not unless he finds the honest motivation to do so on his own." At least, now Holden breathed a sigh of relief, for while he'd been worried about how the council would take his failure, he'd been afraid of facing Cynthia the most.

Though she was frustrated, Diantha had to admit it was true. "She's right. And Holden, I'm sorry. You must have endured a lot in your attempts to mature Dwyer. I do not envy your position."

"I appreciate that," said Holden. "And you're right. It's been…pretty terrible."

"That's not enough, though," Diantha said. "We came to expect too much out of you, Holden. We never should have burdened you with so much responsibility on our behalf. It was wrong of us."

"I disagree," said Cynthia, catching Diantha and Holden off guard. "It was all I needed to confirm what I suspected all along." Holden looked confused still, but Diantha was now figuring out what her fellow council woman had on her mind. Cynthia reached her hand out toward Holden, and it had a small envelope in it. "Open it," she said. Holden did as she instructed, and when he removed the letter, he quickly figured everything out.

It was a formal invitation…to join the Pokémon League Council.

While Holden was still in slight shock, Cynthia was calm as always. "You've earned it, Holden. We were going to wait to see how things turned out with Dwyer, but…regardless of the outcome, you've proven to us you are one of the greatest trainers to ever grace the sport."

"You're inviting me to join the council?" Holden said the words out loud, as if they wouldn't be official until he did. "After all the years you guys hated me?"

"Don't dwell in the past, Holden," said Diantha. Coming from her, it was especially meaningful. "You're a great person, and it seems you've begun selling yourself short as of late. Gurkinn is looking to retire from his position, so there's an opening. The council could benefit immensely from your vast knowledge of pokémon. And not _just_ pokémon battles, but you also have a great understanding of the world, and how things work."

Cynthia grinned and waved her hand in support of Diantha's words of encouragement. "Say the word and it's yours," she said one last time.

Out of respect, Holden took several moments to think it over. However, he already had his answer ready long before that. "Thank you for your kind words…both of you. But I must refuse your offer." They both looked at him, slightly surprised in their own ways at his decision. Naturally, he offered an explanation. "You both may be generous enough to pardon me of my promise, but I have not yet concluded my business with Dwyer. I may have failed to convince him to act more mature, but I do have _another way_ to put him in his place, and that is by beating him in the National Championship. I have a feeling that will shut him up for a while." Diantha grinned in humor at the thought of it, while Cynthia remained more serious as she pondered Holden's words. "Besides," he added more. "I've made a promise to someone else. Now, she's counting on me, and I won't let her down again."

Though Diantha was touched when she heard about Holden and Serena, Cynthia seemed less fazed. "Okay, enough, enough," Cynthia put a stop to it. "We accept your refusal, Holden Hoffman. And I expect you to wipe the floor with Dwyer in the championship. However…make sure you don't underestimate _me_ in the process."

Holden smiled as a competitive look appeared in his eyes. "Never."

"Both of you are forgetting about me," reminded Diantha. "Big mistake."

The somber mood of business was cast aside as they all laughed and began to envision the possibilities of the battles to come. The National Pokémon Championship Series would be an explosive one, and they were all going to fight with all they had to win the title. Holden, Diantha, and Cynthia had different values in their own lives, but they all shared one common trait: passion for pokémon battles. Now, that passion would cross their paths, along with the notorious Dwight Myers.

Only one of them could become champion.


	11. Chapter 55

CHAPTER 55.

FOUR MONTHS LATER

It was time for the National Pokémon Championship Series to take place once again, and this year, it was in the Kanto region. The chosen location for it was an area north of Route 7, which was between Celadon City and Saffron City. There was enough space in the fields up there to host the event, and attendees could travel there from both major cities.

This was close to Holden's former hometown, which provided him with some good news. When he arrived back in Saffron City, he was with a large brigade of his friends and allies. Of course, Serena was with him, along with others associated with his school, including coaches and students. Their numbers were in full force this time around, and they intended to make a huge impact on the tournament scene.

After everyone had left the train, they all ran over to the first bus they saw. Berto was actually racing against Kirk, trying to be the first one to reach the bus, but Kirk surprised him with the upset. They began arguing over swimmers versus runners, and that gave the others time to catch up. Serena pulled on Holden's hand, and the two of them ran past Berto and Kirk, being the first ones to board the bus. That caused the two fighting coaches to board shortly after. Though it took a while, they all got on and the bus took off toward the arena grounds. Once they arrived, they saw large masses of crowds already gathered. There were people lounging around where arrivals were pouring in, but there were also tons of people moving to the festival. The sky was clear and beautiful, making for perfect weather to go along with everything.

Later on, Holden received a call from his phone, and went aside to take it. After he was done, Serena looked curious. "Who was that?" she asked.

Holden looked slightly nervous all of a sudden. He put his left hand behind his head to help console himself, but after a few moments, he reached forward and held Serena's hand. "There's someone here I'd like you to meet."

With that said, he led her farther down past more of the buses until they saw a series of cars driving to the lots on the field to park. A few minutes later, two people appeared and waved at Holden once they spotted him. It only took an instant for Serena to figure out who they were. "Holden!" Marcy shouted in pure joy at the sight of her son. She ran ahead past Anthony and embraced Holden passionately. He hugged her as well.

Anthony caught up just in time to have the chance to shake his son's hand firmly. "Good to see you again, son."

"Mom. Dad," Holden said in greeting. "Thank you for coming out."

"Of course!" Marcy said. "We were so excited when we heard you'd be competing close to home! We made sure we'd make it out to watch you!"

Everyone was in good spirits, and after they had time to enjoy a few moments together, Holden turned back to Serena. "Mom, Dad…this is Serena."

She smiled sweetly and stepped forward to greet them for the first time. "It's a pleasure to meet you," she said with a voice as pleasant as her smile.

Anthony shook Serena's hand first, and then Marcy stepped in and hugged the young woman. "Oh, it's great to finally meet you. Holden's told us so much about you, young lady." Serena laughed and glanced back at Holden suspiciously, who just looked away to avoid her eyes comically.

After introductions were complete, Holden stepped in again. "Okay Mom and Dad, we all have to get ready to go to work once we get inside, but before that, we'll show you guys where you can sit and enjoy the show."

"We want to sit where we can see _you_, Holden," Anthony explained. "That's what really matters to us."

"I know," Holden replied. He was proud, but also slightly embarrassed, since he wasn't used to having his parents there to watch him compete. "There's special seating for guests of the competitors, and you'll get a good spot. First, I need to go find out which section of the arena my matches are being held." The Hoffmans listened and nodded once they heard the plan. From there, Holden began to gather the rest of the team to go enter the festival grounds. Once everyone was inside, Holden finally got to see the arena layout. He also found out that he was going to be in Pool 3, so he guided his parents to the seating area. The tournament was single elimination this year, so it would take place over a period of three days instead of four. Today, Pools 1 through 4 were being held. Holden also noticed Roxy was in the same pool as him, though fortunately she was on the opposite side on the bracket, and therefore they wouldn't have to have to battle each other...at least, not today. The top 2 competitors from each pool would move forward to the top 16 bracket on the third day, where they would all be reseeded.

Also competing once again were Habs and Tito, and they eventually spotted Holden among his teammates. "Holden!" Tito shouted to get his attention. When Holden saw them, he laughed in recognition, and they all reconvened with some handshakes and jokes. "Looks like we're going at it once again," said Tito. "Hopefully, we'll get the chance to battle each other at some point."

Though they were all feeling competitive, Habs shook his head. "We're all battling today, but none of us are in the same pool," he pointed out. "I'm in Pool 4, and Tito's in Pool 2."

Holden was pleased to hear they all had a chance to make top 16 without knocking each other out of the competition. "I'm in Pool 3. Guess that means I'll see both of you on the final day."

"_If_ you last that long," Habs joked, inciting a laugh from Tito. Somehow, their competitive energy was something unique, and it seemed to bring out the best in Holden. As a result, he felt it empowered Tito and Habs as well.

Now that he was reunited with his friends from the previous year, Holden motioned back toward his teammates. "You guys should come meet Apex Academy. We have coaches and students here, and they'd appreciate meeting the two of you." There were no objections from Habs and Tito, so they walked over with Holden to introduce themselves. The students were excited to meet both of them, Habs being a movie star now, and Tito being the highly-renowned trainer he was. Regardless of what they were known for, Holden knew very well they were both legitimate pokémon trainers, and they had high potential to go far in the tournament.

With everybody enjoying themselves, it was only a matter of time before Holden spotted Dwyer, who was walking toward the festival with reporters following him. At one point, Dwyer looked over and made eye contact with Holden, but after a brief intense stare down, he turned and resumed his course. Holden was amused by Dwyer's bitter behavior from recent months, and it had helped to relieve him after all the suffering the cocky trainer had put him through before.

It was as if something about seeing Holden surrounded by friends and loved ones stung Dwyer with pain.

Once again, there were 1,024 competitors and 8 pools, which meant each pool was compromised of 128 trainers. From there, they had to win six matches in their pools to make the top 2, and then those 2 would enter the top 16 bracket in the finals. This was the same format as usual, but this time there were far more competitors in each pool, and it would take a lot of time to run through the matches.

Pool 1 was the pool that Dwyer was in, and he went right to work. Every single opponent he faced was utterly powerless against him, and he barely broke a sweat as his pokémon won every battle with ease. Along the way, he took on Siebold and Harley, two powerful trainers, but they still got swept against his team. Though Harley had placed very high the last two years, this time she was eliminated early on by the defending National Champion. On the other hand, Rory made his way through the bracket, as he'd done the last two years, and was the second person to leave the pool.

Pool 2 was Diantha's, along with Tito. Fortunately for him, they were on opposite sides, and both of them plowed through the competition. The biggest battle took place between Tito and Takako, and after a hard fought match, Tito's Dragonite won it for him in the end. Diantha and Tito made it out of pools.

Pool 3 contained Holden, along with Roxy. He was grateful to be on the opposite side of the bracket, so he wouldn't have to compete against her yet, but knowing how strong her team was, there was still a strong chance they'd meet in battle later. Roxy was one of the most mysterious trainers Holden had ever known, for she was the quietest person, yet she somehow secretly trained a very powerful and well-rounded team of pokémon. Even after knowing Roxy for years, Holden was unsure of her entire pokémon lineup since he'd only had limited opportunities to witness her compete. Sabrina was also in the pool with them, and she'd be facing off against Roxy if both of them won their matches. That ended up coming to fruition, and the battle was a lively one. Holden had the chance to finally see some of Roxy's pokémon battle, and the pokémon she used against Sabrina were Shedinja, Xatu, and Chandelure. Her type advantage overwhelmed Sabrina early, and the psychic gym leader was unable to recover, so Roxy was victorious. As for Holden, his Lapras and Snorlax won nearly every battle for him without suffering too much harm. When it was all said and done, Holden and Roxy both made it out of their pool.

Finally, Pool 4 was a showcase for Cynthia, who was competing in the National Championship for her second time. The last time she entered was seven years ago, where she took first place. It was rare for her to compete these days, but her team remained an elite force. Today, however, she only sent out one pokémon for her matches: Garchomp. Her greatest pokémon was on another level from the competition, and so Cynthia completely outclassed every opponent she faced. The fans were behind her with cheers and applause, fully aware of her reputation as a legendary trainer. Habs was also in this pool, but he was opposite of Cynthia, which was a relief for him. Aside from that, Habs battled very valiantly, and was victorious against everyone he faced, including Brock the Pewter City Gym leader. Despite a few tough opponents near the end of the day, Habs came out on top every time, and thus he exited his pool, along with Cynthia.

That brought the competition to an end for the day, and everyone set out to enjoy the festival in the evening. Holden, Habs, and Tito all celebrated together as they enjoyed some barbeque, while they argued over who struggled the most with their opponents. Despite the positivity, Holden was still aware that none of his students had made it out of their pools today, so he had made sure to speak with all of them and give them props for their efforts. This year, there were actually less students from Apex Academy, since many of them had learned how challenging the biggest pokémon tournament of the year actually was, and that convinced most of them to spend more time training until they were stronger.

Serena was sitting with Berto, Ash, Clemont, Bonnie, Roxy, and others at another long table. They were laughing and enjoying the festivities as well, though naturally Roxy remained quiet as usual. Anytime someone tried to congratulate her for her victory, she would look to the ground and do her best to avoid the attention. It didn't take too long for Holden to notice her, and he had an idea he shared with Habs and Tito. "Hey guys, I'm gonna invite Roxy over to the table."

"Her? Really?" Habs asked while pointing toward the girl with glasses. Even after meeting many new people today, Habs was good at remembering names and faces.

"Yes," said Holden. "She's a good friend, but she's also the quietest person you'll ever meet. Apparently, she's got an incredibly powerful pokémon team, and she made it to the top 16 as well. She deserves some respect for that."

"Yeah, it's fine with me," said Tito. "We got winners at this table. She's a winner."

With the decision agreed on, Holden got up and walked over to the big table. First, he paid a quick visit to Serena to kiss her on the lips, and she was happy to receive his visit. After that, he pointed at Roxy. "Roxy, you've been requested at the top 16 table. Please, come join us."

As soon as she heard her name, Roxy stared with what appeared to be horror as a result of Holden's announcement. Around her, the others cheered loudly and tried to encourage her. They even began to chant her name, and she sunk in her seat until she was practically out of sight. After several moments, Berto got up and put his hands on Roxy's shoulders. "Get up already! Go sit over there and we'll leave you alone."

When she heard the proposal, Roxy quickly rose up and got away from Berto. She walked with haste over to Holden and even went past him toward the victor's table. Holden laughed, but he did turn and give Berto a stern look. Berto held both his hands up apologetically, though he was actually Roxy's best friend, and the two had an apparent understanding of each other, so his behavior seemed fine. When Holden reached the table, he offered Roxy a seat next to him, while Habs and Tito sat on the opposite side. "All right guys, once again, this is Roxy. She was in my pool today, and the two of us made it to the top 16."

"Awesome," said Tito. "Holden told us you're a great trainer."

Roxy twitched her lips a little bit, but remained quiet.

Habs and Tito were chuckling, but Holden urged them not to. He moved things forward by placing a plate and silverware in front of Roxy. "I know you don't like attention and praise from people, but I find it difficult not to extend support for you. You've been a good friend, and I want you to excel with your passions. I don't feel guilty for offering my praise and respect to you. Have some food, and enjoy your victory up to this point. You've earned that much at least."

Though he hadn't expected much from her, Roxy looked over the tray of smoked meat and seemed entranced by the sensations coming from it. Ultimately, she picked up the fork and skewered two pieces of chicken and transferred them to her own plate. From there, she cut small pieces and began to eat, finding the meal very satisfying. Though she stayed quiet, at least she was enjoying herself.

Habs glanced back at the other table again, and then turned to Holden. "That's quite a woman you got there, bro. You in love or what?"

Holden paused in his meal to look Habs dead in the eyes. "I am."

"A lot can happen in just one year," Tito added. Holden nodded in agreement to that as well.

When Habs took another look, he thought of something. "You wanna know something random, Holden? Me and her got roles in the same television series coming up." Once again, Holden stopped to give his attention to Habs, having not realized that piece of information. It was because of this that Habs realized how difficult things would soon be for Holden and Serena to handle the change in lifestyle "What are you two gonna do? You're gonna be long distance?"

Even Tito knew that would be no easy feat. "That's tough, man," he said thoughtfully.

"I know," said Holden. "But we have a plan, and we're gonna be fine."

After finishing a hearty piece of brisket, Habs pointed his fork at Holden, seemingly directed toward his heart. "You know, love makes you do crazy things sometimes. And our dreams take us to unexpected places as well. If you're willing to do what it takes, there's always a way to make things work out in the end." He placed the fork down and pressed his right hand to his chest. "You're a good man, Holden. If there's anything I can do to help out, just let me know. We got your back."

"That's right," added Tito.

The kind words meant a lot to Holden, and he held his fist to his chest in appreciation. "That means a lot to me, guys. I got your backs too." The three of them pressed their fists together, and solidified the friendship. When they were done, they looked at Roxy and laughed when they noticed she was staring awkwardly off to the side. "Roxy, get in on this," Holden insisted, and reached for her wrist, encouraging her to raise a fist. Though she was reluctant, Roxy finally complied, and all four of them pressed their fists in companionship.

"To championship," Tito stated.

"To glory," declared Habs.

Holden grinned in competitive delight. "To achievement," he said, closing out the toast.


	12. Chapter 56

CHAPTER 56.

The next morning, Holden woke up early again, and turned over to look at Serena. She was sound asleep still, and the sun was only just starting to rise. It was pretty normal for him to wake up extra early during the National Championship, but today things were a little different. At least, that was how he felt.

As he stretched and sat up against the bed frame, Holden wasn't thinking much about the tournament. Instead, he was thinking about Serena, and about how she would be leaving town in less than a month. Everything was going to get more complicated once she left to be part of Pokémon Fashion Road Trip. It remained a mystery to him exactly how everything was going to work out.

Suddenly, there was a stir, and Serena turned over toward Holden. Her eyes fluttered open, still coated with fatigue, and her mouth issued a faint smile when she saw Holden sitting up awake. "Sleepyhead," she whispered tiredly to him.

Holden looked at her funny, knowing they both were aware of the irony in that nickname at the moment. "Good morning," he simply told her.

"Good morning," she replied. Though she was awake, she scooted in closer to Holden and wrapped her arms around his chest. "Come back to sleep, Holden," she urged seductively with her words of comfort. Even though he still felt tired, Holden already had things beginning to build up in his mind, and sleep would not catch up again. It only took Serena a few moments to realize it, and she lifted her body up higher to get a good look at her boyfriend's face. "What's on your mind right now?"

Even with fatigue in his eyes, Holden smiled at Serena. "Just…happy to be here with you."

She yawned and then grinned in sleepy delight. "I'm happy too. So…what's on your mind?"

Holden looked back at Serena again, realizing she was more awake now, and that she sensed his concerns. She knew him too well by now, so he finally shared his thoughts. "It's…hard. Knowing you're leaving. I know, I still have a plan to make everything work out but…it's not easy."

Being reminded of this caused Serena's eyes to tear up slightly, even though she was lying in bed barely awake. "It is," she agreed. "But we agreed to figure out a way, remember? And that's what we're gonna do."

The words from her mouth were so assured, more than he'd heard from her previously, and that had a lot of power to reinforce their resolves. After all, they were on the same page with everything now, and that meant they would tackle everything as a team. Even the great challenge ahead could be overcome, so long as they stuck together.

Holden leaned his head down to Serena and gave her a kiss on the lips. When he lifted his head back up to look at her, she had the brightest face of joy, and she reached up and pulled his head back down to kiss him again. They stayed there for what felt like hours, simply enjoying the simplicity of each other's presence, free from the burden of their taxing lives outside the hotel room. They had found true love in each other, and it had taken them to places they never knew existed before.

After a while, Serena got out of the bed and left to go get something. When she returned, Holden was surprised to see the flute she'd gotten him two years ago. "I'm glad you kept this in good condition," she told him. As the two of them looked it over, Holden suddenly took it from her and held it in his hands. "Hey," she said in protest.

"Serena," he said softly to her. "I have something to show you." As she watched with curiosity, Holden placed the flute to his lips and gently blew into it. The sound he emitted was spiritual and controlled, and to Serena's surprise, Holden knew how to play the flute. He carried on with a song of his own, playing mostly low notes that seemed to carry themselves through the air by the wind, like delicate leaves. There was a natural and mysterious wonder in his song, and it moved Serena tremendously. After a couple of minutes, Holden completed his tune and lowered the flute.

"Wow," she laughed in amazement, clapping her hands. "That was amazing, Holden. I can't believe you learned how to play a song with that."

When he saw how happy she was, he remembered to state what really mattered. "If I can play a song on the flute for you, then _you_ can achieve your dream of being a famous performer."

As she remembered the moment, and how Holden had turned it around, she was smiling and blushing, hardly able to keep herself together. "That's an _absurd_ comparison!"

She leapt into Holden's arms and embraced him with all her might as he dropped the flute on the bed nearby and hugged her back. They knew things would be difficult going forward, but as long as they were both together, they felt nothing would stop them from making it where they needed to go. The songs they played for each other urged their imaginations to open up to the possibilities of extraordinary destinations that awaited them both. Alone, they'd never know of these places, but together, glorious new worlds opened up to them.


	13. Chapter 57

CHAPTER 57.

When it was time for the pools to begin, there was a big scene in the stands. Dwyer had apparently aroused some attention by trash talking some of the other competitors, and there were some who didn't find his jokes very funny, so they organized a small gathering and were following Dwyer around to boo him. Eventually, he got irritated by the group, so he began to lash out with verbal attacks, and security had to step in. In the end, they escorted Dwyer away from the premises and managed to convince the horde of angry fans to disperse.

Though it was hard not to take interest in the drama, Holden and Serena were busy with their own duties. She had to go to work at one of the broadcast booths, where she'd be reporting events from the competition while also advertising for her new upcoming show. After giving Holden one more kiss, she was off, and he reconvened with Habs and Tito as he headed to the field to watch his students compete. In addition, Ash and Kelly were competing today, and he'd promised to coach both of them for their matches.

Pool 5 began, and the crowd was energized right out the gate. Steven Stone was the top seed in the pool, and his Metagross continued to woo the crowd with his powerhouse arsenal. What made things interesting was that Steven's opponents, which were mostly young trainers, and even one of the Apex students, all began their battles with fire types and dark types, hoping to strike Metagross with an early type disadvantage. His competition was taking him on with full force every battle, though Steven managed to come out with the win each time. Another returning trainer was Proton, who once again demonstrated his ability to win battles using his team of only three pokémon: Sableye, Blastoise, and Tyranitar. When it was all said and done, Steven Stone and Proton were the winners of their pool.

Pool 6 was just as wild, and had a similar favorite star with Wallace being the top seed. Once again, he always lead out with Milotic, and thus his competition came out strong with electric types and grass types to go for broke early on. Wallace had a well-rounded team, though he was known for specializing in water types, so he had answers to these attacks. Still, like Steven Stone, he couldn't help but notice his competition had become very intense compared to previous years, considering this was still early on in the pools. It appeared as though having a powerhouse team would not carry the Hoenn Regional Champion forever, though for now, he still came out with the win in his pool. The other significant pairing was the battle between successful Eevee evolution trainer Yuko and Shalour City Gym leader Korrina. Though Yuko was the clear favorite, Korrina had improved her strength tremendously, especially with her Mega Lucario being her signature pokémon. They battled down to the wire, with it coming down to Mega Lucario versus Flareon, and after enduring some close calls from heavy attacks, Flareon managed to land a fire blast which was too damaging for Mega Lucario to endure. Yuko won the battle, and ended up exiting his pool along with Wallace.

Pool 7 had Koga as the top seed, and he had noticed the increased competition in the previous pools. Even so, he was talented enough to use his pokémon strategically, and he came out on top each battle. Koga specialized in poison type pokémon, which had historically been considered one of the weaker types to exist, but he had never shied from his style. Instead, the seasoned pokémon battle veteran continued to grow and evolve, making his team constantly stronger, while also being sure to represent poison type pokémon. Ash was in this pool as well, and Holden was there to coach him inbetween matches. This year, Ash's team was as strong and capable as ever before, along with his focus and determination. Every time his Pikachu came out to fight, his opponents seemed to think it would be an easy matchup, yet Pikachu fought harder and stronger than anyone could imagine. In addition, Ash had Greninja to close out his battles, and he won every time. In the end, Koga and Ash left their pools as winners.

Finally, it was time for Pool 8, the last pool of the tournament. This was a significant pool to Holden because not only was Kelly fighting in it…Kirk was competing as well, in his first ever National Championship. While Holden had been preparing for this event, he'd only just found out that Kirk had entered as well, since apparently Kirk didn't want to make a big deal out of it. When Holden found out, he offered to be there to coach and support him, and Kirk reluctantly agreed. During his first match, Kirk was victorious thanks to his Ampharos, but it had been a close one. Holden gave Kirk some calm yet strong words, and they seemed to hit the mark with him. His next matches went much smoother, until his fourth battle where he went up against Iris, the top seed of the Pool. This was the end of the line for the newcomer, since Iris was on an entirely different level of power. Even so, Kirk had a refreshingly good attitude, even in defeat, and Holden gave him props for his mental strength throughout the tournament. Meanwhile, Kelly fought through her battles valiantly, and continued to showcase her rapidly improving team. Holden's coaching tips for her paid off in tight spots, as she was prepared for certain tricks from her opponents, and thus she wouldn't lose her step in battle on account of them. Everything paid off for her, as she won six battles and made it out of her pool, along with Iris. Kelly was ecstatic, and Holden celebrated with her and Ash. Even Kirk showed good class by joining in with them, acknowledging the importance of this win for Kelly, since it was the first time she'd made it out of her pool in a National Championship.

With the pools concluded, the top 16 for the tournament were Dwyer, Rory, Diantha, Tito, Holden, Roxy, Cynthia, Habs, Steven Stone, Proton, Wallace, Yuko, Koga, Ash, Iris, and Kelly.

Later in the evening, Serena returned and gave out hugs to congratulate Ash, Kelly, and the other winners from their circle of friends. It felt surreal knowing that a significant number of their friends and allies were in the top 16, but it also made it difficult knowing many of them were likely to face each other in battle. After all, Holden, Roxy, Ash, Kelly, Habs, and Tito were all going to compete tomorrow, which was nearly half of the entire remaining field now. Despite the drama of this reality, all of them were laughing and enjoying their time together, along with the rest of the students and coaches from Apex.

At some point, Professor Sycamore made an appearance, and was greeted wonderfully by the group. After things settled down, Holden had the chance to speak with Sycamore alone. "I've been meaning to tell you something, Augustine," Holden said. Sycamore was silent as he gave Holden his full attention. "Everything I have now, I owe to you, old friend. Thank you so much for supporting me back when I had essentially nothing. You've been an amazing friend." He stood up straight and extended a hand for Sycamore to shake, as a symbol of gratitude and friendship.

"Holden," Sycamore said, as he gripped his hand. "You've _always_ had something to offer the world. I'm just glad that now, you realize it. Now, if you want to thank me…make sure you never stop believing that."

After that, Sycamore joined the others in the fun, and they all returned to the festival. There was a huge craving for sweets shared among the group, so everyone began buying ice cream, funnel cake, and of course, mochi. There was a great sense of positivity and pleasure they all shared, and Holden kept on pausing to observe it with his own eyes. He couldn't believe how much good he'd seen in the past few years, and he was grateful to bear witness to it. As he did, he also considered all the stress and problems that had arisen as a result of his latest commitments. Suddenly, all those woes seemed so far behind, as if none of it had any power over him. It reminded him of the battles his pokémon went through, and how even when things got tough, if they didn't give up, and managed to win in the end, victory would outshine the stress that came from trying to attain it. The cycle would often repeat, but by surrounding your life with good things—specifically good _people_—no matter the result, there would be positivity.

People won and lost battles all the time, but the loved ones in your life would always make you feel like a winner.

When evening sank in, the celebrations carried on, but Holden called it a night early to go and get some rest. Despite how happy he was, he had his methods of competing, and he would rely on them as always when it was time to perform. Not wanting to cut Serena's night short, he encouraged her to stay out longer and have fun. She wasn't easily swayed to do so, but she finally relented, though she promised to come back to him in another hour. With a gracious smile, he accepted the compromise and headed back to the hotel room.

Once he was away from the crowds, someone approached Holden, and he strained his eyes to see in the dark, but he recognized the bitter face of Dwyer. The defending National Champion walked up to Holden, displaying an unhappy face as he stared at his rival with animosity. Holden didn't wait to let him speak. "What do you want, Dwyer?"

"What makes you so special?" asked Dwyer, showcasing his insecurity in this rare instance. "Why do people even like you?"

Holden took a breath, and tried to reason with Dwyer. "I'm not in the position to answer that question. If you understood how things worked, you'd get what I was saying."

That didn't seem to make Dwyer feel any better. "You think you know everything? You're so smart, and you know it all? _Why_? You aren't in the position to claim anything of the sort."

At least, that made it simple for Holden, who walked forward until he was right in Dwyer's face. The tables had turned now, and Holden was standing higher than Dwyer as they faced off. Once he was in position, Holden told him, "_Neither are you_." He patted Dwyer on the shoulder and then turned to head back to his hotel.

Before Holden was out of sight, Dwyer raised both arms up and shouted more words. "Aren't you gonna stop me? Try to coach me? Give me advice? Tell me what I'm doing wrong? You always try to fix everyone! Fix _me_! What's wrong with me? Why? _Why_?"

The shouting lost volume gradually as Holden kept on walking, until he couldn't hear the silly wailing any longer. He hailed a cab and took it back to his room, where he would escape all of it to enjoy some time meditating and resting. It was a big day tomorrow, and he would be ready for it.


	14. Chapter 58

CHAPTER 58.

In the morning, Holden was up early, and quickly acquired a copy of the bracket for the top 16 tournament. Now that the players had been reseeded, there were a lot of interesting developments. As expected, Dwyer was the number 1 seed, since he was the defending champion, which was unfortunate for Kelly, who got the 16 seed and would have to face him first. Holden was the number 3 seed, and was matched up against Ash in his first match, which was also a tough break, though the friends had known it was highly possible they'd face each other.

Once Holden and his entourage showed up, he noticed Kelly was missing, and so he tried to reach her by phone. Eventually, she responded, and revealed she was in the entrance lot still. Holden informed the others he was going to go talk with her, and that they'd catch up with the group later. Sure enough, when he arrived, he found her sitting alone, so he sat down next to her.

When Kelly saw Holden there, she sighed and felt embarrassed. "I don't think I can go through with it," she announced.

"Go through with what?" Holden asked, though he felt he already knew.

Kelly looked at him with fearful eyes. "Losing is bad enough, but…losing to _him_…he's such a creep. I don't want to do it, he's the champion anyway. I'm not that good."

It was hard seeing Kelly like this, but Holden knew she struggled with her self-esteem. However, he also knew she was capable of great feats as a trainer. "Listen to me, Kelly. When you go to a competition like this, you're gonna have to face all kinds of opponents, and your mission is to find a way to beat them. Even if you're going to lose the match, you must lose after doing everything in your power to win. If anything, that's what I'm expecting to see today." He placed a hand over her shoulder in comfort and felt her shaking, which made him realize just how taxing this position was for her emotionally.

Then, Kelly turned to look Holden in the eyes. "Holden…I want to win. Even if I don't win the tournament, I just…I don't want to lose to _him_. Tell me what I need to do, and I'll listen. Show me how to beat him."

In that moment, Holden saw the determination in her eyes. Even a fearful and nervous Kelly had the potential to battle with great ferocity once she found out how to motivate herself. If this was how it would be, then he would grant her request. "Show me your team again," he requested, while revealing pen and paper he had on him. Kelly took it and wrote her team down on the sheet: Ursaring, Chesnaught, Stantler, Lapras, Golem, and Arcanine. Meanwhile, Holden wrote down the six pokémon that Dwyer had on his team as well: Scizor, Conkeldurr, Dragonite, Zoroark, Gengar, and Slaking. With both teams listed next to each other for comparison, Holden got ready. "First of all, Kelly, I'm going to tell you things, and I need you to focus. Even if what I'm telling you will be difficult, I need you to trust in me. I'm going to tell you what I think is your best chance of beating Dwyer. Understood?"

"Yes," she said firmly, though she knew in that moment Holden was going to be tough on her.

With that settled, Holden got to work. "Your team is much lower in level than his pokémon, and in a head on battle, he'll win with his power. Therefore, you focus on your strengths, and more importantly in this case, your opponent's weaknesses. Dwyer is bitter right now, on account of how little the fans care for him, and how much they praise the other successful trainers. He's over eager to demonstrate how smart and perfect he is, and so you're going to lure him into battles where he surrenders type advantage. You'll start off with Lapras, because he's begun most of his battles with Dragonite. This will give you the ice advantage, but you cannot simply win with the knockout. You'll need to let Lapras take a few licks of damage before you use blizzard, so be patient there and wait until Dwyer underestimates you and sends his Dragonite charging in." With everything being said, Kelly had a lot to keep up with, but Holden was pointing to the names on the paper to help her visualize the scenarios. After giving her a moment, Holden resumed. "In general, you need to let Dwyer make the first move each battle. When he comes in to attack, you get the counter attacks on his pokémon. To do that, you'll need to wait for him to overcommit his pokémon to moves that take a long time. Also, you need him to get _angry_, and impatient. He'll begin making mistakes if you start giving him trouble, considering he believes he should just run through you. Watch his emotions closely, and take advantage of it. Use Chesnaught's leech seed and stun spore. Use Stantler's hypnosis and confuse ray. Stall the match, draw it out, and his anger levels will elevate."

Even after that, Holden spent another ten minutes going over scenarios with Kelly. He lost track of time after getting so committed to his coaching, but Kelly never once bothered to interrupt him. In fact, she wrote down quite a few notes on the paper, and repeated many of the tips to herself as she listened. She was so focused on this task now, especially since Holden had committed a decent amount of time to help her see it through. Before anything else, Holden stood and held a hand up, instructing Kelly not to stand up just yet. "You've come a long way, Kelly. I want you to know this last thing before you stand again. I wouldn't lie to you about something like this. _You can win this_. When you go against Dwyer, it will be tough, but you can't let him know that. Bottle up all your emotions, and act nonchalant, while he burns from his bitterness. I'm telling you the truth, and I believe in you, so now do your part, and believe in yourself. When you're ready…stand up."

Kelly took a few moments to gauge everything she'd gone through, and everything she'd learned from her journey. Suddenly, she realized it had all built up to this monumental moment of her career in pokémon battles. It all made sense, and this was the big moment where she would put on a career defining performance. She felt it inside, and then the feeling wouldn't go away. This was her time to show the world what she was capable of, and she felt stronger than ever before. She stood up at that moment, and Holden stepped to the side, as if encouraging her to take the path set before her. "Lead the way," he told her, and she did just that.

Upon returning to the arena, Kelly eventually caught sight of Dwyer, who was standing next to the battlefield and gloating to some bystanders. Once he noticed Holden, he came over to both him and Kelly, and let out an ugly laugh. "Don't tell me this girl is one of your students, Holden!" Dwyer said as he cackled rudely. "That's so unfortunate. Guess that's another one with a wasted trip all the way out here!"

He was already underestimating Kelly, as Holden had predicted, but it wasn't part of the plan for Kelly to interact with him. Holden urged Kelly to head over to the battlefield while he faced Dwyer with a smug grin. "You're still bitter I see?" he said with the intention of riling Dwyer up more.

It only took a few moments for it to begin working. "You're going to be sorry!" Dwyer insisted. "_So sorry_! This day is just a formality for my reign as champion. In reality, I'll run through everyone I face, just like I did last year. In fact, it will be even easier this time around. It will be hard for you to deal with it, but you'll get by. You've got a whole academy full of failures to keep you company."

The words were especially harsh, but Holden was on a mission, and he would not be sidetracked. "You keep talking, Dwight, but you still aren't listening…or seeing. You're in your own world, and it's a lonely one. These people you keep talking about are together, and we have friendship and companionship. And that is the core of why you're so bitter…because you're incapable of any such thing. Even after I tried to look out for you, you refused to heed the advice of others. So now…the one thing you have is this competition. So when you _lose_ _that_…you'll have nothing." Holden walked off before Dwyer could even come up with a retort, and the angry trainer stood there clenching his fists and trying to convince himself it wasn't true.

Eventually, Dwyer went to his position on the field, and his battle with Kelly could begin. Before starting, they made their first picks, and sure enough, Dwyer started with Dragonite, as Holden had predicted. Thanks to this tip, Kelly had picked Lapras, giving her the type advantage at the beginning. Before leaving to go back to her position, she looked Dwyer in the face and reminded herself of her purpose. _I need to make him angry and bitter_. All she did was roll her eyes, as if she looked down on him, and Dwyer reacted strongly. "You'll wish you'd never taken up pokémon training after this battle!" he shouted fiercely, though his voice nearly cracked in the process. Kelly giggled to herself…and made sure he noticed that too.

Once in their positions, the first battle of the day could now begin. It was Dwyer's Dragonite versus Kelly's Lapras, and things got underway quickly. Dwyer didn't want to waste time using his wits or intelligence, and wanted to end the battle early…which played into Kelly's tactics. He commanded Dragonite to use long distance moves at first, such as flamethrower and dragon pulse, but Kelly kept on ordering her Lapras to deflect the moves with special attacks, or simply to dodge. In between moves, she got Lapras to use confuse ray, which disoriented Dragonite as well. Instead of trying to land ice beam or blizzard, which could potentially knock out Dragonite with one hit, Kelly was giving all kinds of commands to wear out Dragonite patiently. And Dwyer was not patient at all right now. "Why do you keep on doing those moves? Just use an ice attack already, you novice!" he exclaimed.

Despite what she was up against, Kelly maintained her composure, just like Holden always did, and she stuck with the game plan. She sent Lapras to use confuse ray again, even while Dragonite was already confused, which continued to stockpile the rage inside of Dwyer. No longer willing to play games, Dwyer ordered Dragonite to charge in and land physical attacks. Fortunately, Kelly was waiting for this moment, and as soon as Dragonite came in with a body slam, Lapras launched an ice beam which struck him head on, and scored the knockout.

Furious at how things had started, Dwyer called back Dragonite and sent out Conkeldurr. Now that she was in the lead, Kelly nearly succumbed to the urge to have Lapras go out with some strong attacks, but she reminded herself of the plan. Even now, she ordered Lapras to use confuse ray to continue to disorient her foes. Conkeldurr came in hard, swinging his pillars to land some fighting moves, but Kelly instructed Lapras to hang back and use ice beam on the ground to disrupt Conkeldurr's balance. Dwyer began to mispronounce attacks as his rage was boiling by now, but he eventually had his moment when Conkeldurr managed to land a heavy blow on Lapras with one of his pillars, scoring the knockout.

_Patience_. Kelly was repeating it to herself internally as she fought with everything she had to remain composed. She sent out Stantler next, and while it was true that Stantler was a normal type pokémon, and vulnerable to fighting types, the deer pokémon had psychic powers, and he also factored into Kelly's game plan for the match. It didn't take long for Dwyer to complain out loud, as he said, "Wow, seriously? You sent a normal type in against a fighting type? You're the dumbest trainer I've ever fought against." His words were so demeaning, but Kelly was in the zone with her focus. She quickly ordered Stantler to use confuse ray, and Conkeldurr was once again disoriented, causing Dwyer to stomp the ground irritably. He kept ordering Conkeldurr to charge in and land attacks, even with the confusion in place, knowing that even one heavy strike would be enough to get the knockout. Kelly wasn't sending Stantler in to attack at all, but she instructed him to use hypnosis to tie in with the confuse ray. After slowing down Conkeldurr more and more, finally the fighting pokémon went down and didn't get back up.

In a shocking turn of events, Dwyer was down to one last pokémon, against two of Kelly's. He was beginning to realize the risky position he was in at last, and he quieted down as he sent out Scizor to restore his lead. Right away, he ordered Scizor to charge in and attack, but he used the words, "Double team faster!" This was one of the key phrases Holden had warned Kelly about, since Dwyer used code words to mix up his commands. This meant double team wasn't the move, and in fact, it would likely be some sort of crucial attack. Kelly ordered Stantler to use confuse ray again, and a flash of light from it came up in the air, but Scizor plowed right through it and landed a brick break, which was a fighting type move, and super effective. That put an end to the battle for Stantler, and Kelly only had one pick left.

The fear of losing briefly flashed before her, and Kelly felt her nerves attempt to shut her down, only she fought it off and kept focused. This was the big moment, and she was almost there. Her final pick was Arcanine, who had a major type advantage over Scizor. Even so, Dwyer's Scizor had beaten numerous fire types throughout the competition, and that type disadvantage would only help if she fought smart. Sensing his vulnerability, Dwyer sent Scizor out with double team, agility, and swords dance. His goal was to be as powerful as possible, and land one killing blow to get the win. To counter this, Kelly put a plan into motion. Arcanine used fire spin, would began to surround the Scizor doubles and close in to burn the vicinity, erasing most of them. After that, Arcanine used flamethrower to send up torrents of flames, and Scizor had to back off from the big attack for now.

Eventually, Scizor appeared in the air above, leaping up high to inspect the scene to locate an option to come in to attack. Once she saw it, Kelly ordered Arcanine to use dig, and the dog pokémon dug a hole and vanished in the ground. After being gone for several seconds, Dwyer grew annoyed and waved over at the referee. "Come on, ref! She's just stalling the match! You need to put an end to this!"

The ref just shook his head and pointed at Dwyer with authority. "Concentrate on your match, trainer!"

Dwyer shook his head and ordered Scizor to strike once Arcanine surfaced from the dig attack. Since Arcanine was underground, he wouldn't be able to hear a warning from Kelly about this strategy. However, Arcanine never appeared to return, and Dwyer was unsure of what had happened. Then, suddenly, Arcanine leapt up seemingly out of nowhere at the other side of the field away from the fire. Dwyer laughed triumphantly at the wasted potential for an ambush, and he sent Scizor in with night slash, which had been highly powered thanks to swords dance. In a flash, Scizor struck Arcanine with the hit at full force and scored an instant knockout. After giving a sigh of relief, Dwyer looked over to see Kelly, already eager to gloat over his victory.

Kelly wasn't bothered at all by the result, and Dwyer couldn't figure it out. Not until the dancing flames on the field suddenly gave way to the charging figure of Arcanine, who was unleashing a fire blast along with his entrance. Scizor spun around and was crushed by the huge fire attack, which singed his entire body and laid him out on the ground. It turned out that Arcanine had used substitute, and the decoy had worked magnificently on the impatient Dwyer, who had begun to celebrate a premature victory. That was the end of the battle, and Kelly had become victorious in shocking fashion.

The audience went insane. It was likely the greatest upset to ever take place in the National Championship, and just like that, the defending champion was eliminated in the first match of the day, and a new champion would officially be crowned later on. Dwyer stood in shock and clasped his hair while his glasses fell to the ground and broke. Meanwhile, Holden, Berto, and other coaches ran over to embrace Kelly and celebrate the incredible victory. She was in tears as she took in the hard fought victory, and then she laughed in surprise as Berto lifted her up on his shoulders and carried her back onto the field so that she could enjoy the audience cheering madly for her. Holden looked around at all the people applauding her and felt unbelievably happy for her. Kelly had come a long way, and today solidified her progress had paid off. After Berto finally lowered Kelly back to her feet, she ran over and hugged Holden. He smiled warmly as he returned the embrace, and then he raised her arm in the air to acquire even more applause from the crowd. Kelly held both arms up as she jumped up and down, so happy that she didn't want the moment to end.

Eventually, though, she calmed down enough to glance over at Dwyer, who was down on the ground, covering his head with both hands, unable to deal with this severe loss. Holden walked over to Kelly and obstructed her view of Dwyer. "Don't worry about him, you've earned this moment," he told her.

In response, Kelly placed her hand on Holden's shoulder as she smiled. "You helped me reach this point, Holden. And I know that when I was down on myself after a defeat, it was _you_ who came to me with words of encouragement. Now…it's my turn to do the same." In a remarkable act, Kelly slowly walked across the field to Dwyer, who hadn't moved from his spot. Once she stood right above him, she reached her hand forward and placed it gently on Dwyer's shoulder, which caused him to jerk his head up and stare up at her with defeated eyes. "It was a good battle," she told him calmly. There was no doubt Dwyer was bitter inside, but he was so shocked at the result of the battle that he still hadn't found the means to react, so he merely hid his face once again to the ground. Kelly nodded her head, accepting his response, and turned back around to return to her friends. They grabbed her with hugs and praise and escorted her off the field where she could take a well-earned break until her next match.


	15. Chapter 59

CHAPTER 59.

The final bracket had been off to a wild start, as the fans witnessed the greatest upset ever in the competition, on the back of the best use of substitute in a battle ever executed. It was certainly a memorable moment, and the entire playing field had been impacted dramatically now that the infamous trainer Dwyer was eliminated extremely early from the competition.

The next match was Tito versus Koga, and the crowd fed off the energy of the previous exciting bout. Tito began the match with Alakazam, while Koga used Muk, and so it was a strong type advantage right off the bat for Tito. He had Alakazam use psybeam to strike early, hoping to confuse his foe, since Muk had a lot of health and could do some heavy damage if he managed to unleash some attacks. Muk avoided being stricken with confusion, and launched a sludge bomb at Alakazam. Fortunately, the psychic pokémon used his powers to deflect the attack, but the poisonous fumes still caused him to struggle breathing, which interfered with his psychic abilities. That gave Muk more time, and he used toxic to poison Alakazam, and then used the move memento. This had been unexpected, because Muk sacrificed himself, but that left Alakazam poisoned and with lowered attack. Without wasting time, Koga recalled Muk and sent out Crobat, who used confuse ray to further disorient Alakazam. Instead of letting it carry on, Tito lessened the effects of Koga's tactics by quickly recalling Alakazam, which noticeably irritated the Elite Four member, considering how much he'd done to lower the pokémon's status. Next, Tito sent out Gyarados, and he launched hyper beam at the bat pokémon. Crobat was fast enough to dodge the move, and he came in fast to attack with bite while Gyarados was recharging after his last move. Sure enough, Crobat was able to do some damage, and then fly back quickly to escape the counter attack. Once Gyarados was ready, Tito used the mega stone to turn him into Mega Gyarados, and that changed things right away. Mega Gyarados used outrage, and even though Crobat was moving rapidly to dodge the attacks, he had no answers on countering his monstrous foe. Finally, Koga ordered Crobat to make a move, and as soon as he did, Gyarados landed a strike from outrage and ended the duel. That left Koga with one remaining pokémon, and he went with Forretress. This large round bug and steel pokémon had a great deal of defense, and he put it to work. He used sandstorm to surround the area with sand, and unleashed spikes which flew up in the air with the sand, making the battle chaotic for Mega Gyarados. Instead of hanging back, Gyarados used surf and rode through the sandstorm at Forretress, using the waves to keep the sandstorm out of the way. Once Gyarados crashed the wave into Forretress, he also fired a hydro pump, and that did some heavy damage. Gyarados needed to do more, so he used hyper beam after that, and Forretress finally succumbed to the onslaught. Tito had defeated Koga in impressive fashion.

After the battle was over, it was time for Cynthia to return to the stage to take on Rory. Cynthia was eager to make it to the top of this tournament, and despite not having competed in a while, she hadn't lost a step. She led out with Garchomp while Rory went with Electrode, but he quickly found out why she was so feared. Garchomp was actually dragon and ground type, so Rory was off to a bad start as it was, and Cynthia used the opportunity to mega evolve her pokémon into Mega Garchomp. The dragon pokémon made short work of electrode when he landed hyper beam, and Rory was down right away. He sent out Pyroar next, and used fire spin to try and slow down Mega Garchomp's momentum. When Mega Garchomp saw the flames, he just used dig and escaped the barrage, only to burst out of the ground in front of Pyroar. With the ambush successful, Cynthia gave Mega Garchomp the command to use dragon rush, and it resulted in a quick knockout. For his last pick, Rory went with Rotom, but it was clear he had nothing for the Sinnoh Regional Champion. Mega Garchomp flew right through the flamethrower that Rotom launched and ended the battle with yet another dragon rush, giving Cynthia the quick dominant victory.

The fourth battle of the day would be Iris versus Yuko, pitting dragons against foxes. Unfortunately, out of the 8 Eevee evolutions available to him, Yuko had not registered Glaceon, who was the ice type pokémon, which would have helped him now against the dragon types. Instead, he started the battle with Sylveon, while Iris went with Archeops. This ruined Yuko's strategy right off the bat, since Sylveon was strong against dragon types, but technically Archeops was rock and flying type only. Taking advantage of her prediction, Iris sent her fossil bird pokémon in with rockslide, and did some damage early. Sylveon used attract, which began to cause Archeops to hesitate in attacking, since they were opposite genders. Iris growled irritably, but she wasn't going to be deterred, and told Archeops to merely use fly to help escape any potential counter attacks. Once he got out of range, it gave him time to clear his head and regain focus for the battle. Archeops came back down with a fly attack, only to be met with Sylveon's moonblast, which came down from above him, catching him off guard and scoring the knockout. Yuko had made the first move, but Iris was just getting started. Her next pick was Lapras, and once again, she avoided picking a dragon type who would be extra vulnerable to Sylveon's fairy type. Lapras used ice beam right away, hoping to deliver some badly needed damage to Sylveon, but the fairy pokémon used light screen to set up defense. After that, Sylveon used draining kiss, which stole some of Lapra's health. Iris was tired of the setbacks, and instructed Lapras to use haze, which removed the light screen, and then she used hydro pump. Finally, she overwhelmed Sylveon and scored the knockout. Yuko wasn't too discouraged, and he sent out Jolteon next to use his electric advantage. However, now that Sylveon was out of the way, Iris had strong momentum, and she had Lapras use confuse ray to keep Jolteon out of focus while she launched blizzard and ended up getting the knockout anyway. Losing his lead in just mere moments, Yuko could only go with Leafeon for his last pick, but even with the grass advantage he was still vulnerable to ice attacks, and Lapras landed an ice beam shortly after to secure the win for Iris.

Diantha battled Proton next, and it was similar to the battle Cynthia had with Rory. Diantha led out with Mega Gardevoir, and easily dispatched of Proton's team of three without breaking a sweat. After the battle, Diantha went over to him to give him respect for his strong placings in tournaments, but she practically begged him to add three more pokémon to his team so he would have a full six. With a laugh, Proton finally agreed to expand his team, especially after Diantha had beaten him so dominantly.

Up next was Habs versus Wallace, and Holden was in his corner to support him, knowing he was the underdog. Wallace led with Milotic, as always, and Habs sent out Electabuzz to counter the water type. Milotic quickly used surf to pressure Electabuzz, as if to invite him to use his special attacks. Habs had been advised to time his shots, so he followed the advice and had Electabuzz use thunder wave first to paralyze Milotic. Once Milotic was stunned, Electabuzz used light screen to add additional defense. Hoping to boost his moves to blast through the obstacles, Wallace gave Milotic the que to use rain dance, which was exactly what Habs was waiting for. Once it was raining, he used thunder, which was more accurate under these conditions, and it connected with a loud explosion, knocking Milotic out cold. Wallace was disappointed that his prize pokémon had such a poor start, but he didn't slow down as he sent out Swampert next, who had ground typing to go with his water type, thus giving him immunity to electric attacks. There was no way to really accomplish much here, so Habs recalled Electabuzz, rather than letting him take unnecessary damage, and he sent out Durant next. The metallic ant pokémon used dig to try and attack from the ground, but Swampert used surf to flood the hole, forcing Durant to surface. Once he did, Swampert used hammer arm, which put some dents in Durant's armor. Durant countered with iron head, and both pokémon just stood in place and wailed away at each other, as both trainers hoped to outlast the other. In the end, Swampert scored the knockout but took tons of damage doing so. Habs switched to Gengar and quickly attacked with shadow ball before Swampert could land any more hits and got the knockout. Wallace sent out Sharpedo for his last pick, giving him the dark type advantage over Gengar's ghost type. He instructed Sharpedo to use crunch, and the shark pokémon came in fast, but Gengar had the speed advantage and escaped harm. He moved quickly and used confuse ray to slow down Sharpedo, and then used toxic to poison him. From there, Habs kept ordering Gengar to dodge and keep up the confuse ray, while the poison took its toll on Sharpedo. Finally, Sharpedo was unable to keep battling thanks to the toxins, and Habs got the well-earned victory over the strong favorite in Wallace.

Holden and his friends enjoyed celebrating their victories for a little bit before the next match started. Thus far, Kelly, Tito, and Habs had all been able to win, and it was an amazing feeling. Unfortunately for the friends, Holden would be taking on Ash in the next match, and that meant one of them would have to lose. Even so, they both shook hands and promised to give it everything they had and win or lose, they'd still be friends.

Once it was time to begin, Holden and Ash got to work. They started the battle off with Kangaskhan and Greninja, and the fighting picked up in a flash. Greninja used his speed and agility to move quickly around Kangaskhan, while darting in to land quick strikes dealing light damage while still moving. As was Holden's typical style, he didn't give out any commands to his pokémon, having already instructed Kangaskhan before the bout. Sure enough, Kangaskhan waited until she saw her opening, and landed a dizzy punch once Greninja came in directly from the front. The strike caused Greninja to grow confused, and that gave Kangaskhan the chance to land a body slam and score the knockout. Ash refused to let the setback deter him, and he sent out Hawlucha next, who had the fighting type advantage. Sure enough, Hawlucha unleashed a torrent of fighting blows, and Kangaskhan was taking heavy damage, urging Holden to recall her. He sent out Venusaur next, catching Ash slightly off guard, since he'd been expecting Lapras to come out. When Ash sent Hawlucha in to attack, Venusaur used his vines to lash at the bird pokémon, and also to disrupt his flight pattern and force him to the ground. Once there, Venusaur unleashed razor leaf and Hawlucha was unable to endure the onslaught. That left Ash with his final pick, and he went with Talonflame, giving himself a strong type advantage. Holden saw the issues Venusaur would face but didn't recall him just yet. Instead, he let Venusaur use stun spore on Talonflame, while Ash ordered his pokémon to use brave bird, which ended up knocking Venusaur out cold. Holden's pokémon had taken one for the team, since the stun spore would slow down Talonflame significantly. For his last pick, Holden went with Lapras, and Ash's Talonflame was pretty much helpless at that point. He tried to dodge the surf and hydro pump blasts from Lapras, but eventually he was hit and went down, giving Holden the win. After the match, Holden and Ash shook hands and traded words of respect for each other.

The last match for round 1 was Steven Stone versus Roxy, and the shy girl with big glasses would be the underdog once again. Before the match started, Holden tried to remind her about Metagross being Steven's starter, but she rolled her eyes at him, implying she already knew what he was capable of. With a laugh, Holden backed off and let her do her thing. One thing he couldn't help but notice was that Roxy only ever talked during her battles as she gave her commands to the pokémon. It was a strange phenomenon hearing her voice for a change.

At the start of the match, Roxy started out with Chandelure, which had ghost and fire types to combat Metagross, and Holden was happy to see she was prepared. Steven Stone was giving Metagross orders to attack right off the bat, but Chandelure used will-o-wisp to burn the giant pokémon, lowering his attack right of the bat. Metagross used pursuit, which was a dark type move and did some extra damage to Chandelure, but Roxy's pokémon managed to endure. She used confuse ray to disorient Metagross, and that bought her time to also use hex, which was stronger since Metagross was suffering from burns. This ended up being enough, and Metagross went down. Steven Stone kept at it, though, and sent out Armaldo next. He ordered him to use Brine right out the gate, which connected for some damage to Chandelure. Roxy nearly let her pokémon faint as she urged Chandelure to use will-o-wisp before she returned her. For her next pick, Roxy went with Gliscor, and the ground and flying type was an impressive pokémon. Gliscor used screech to lower Armaldo's attack stat, then used sand attack to lower his accuracy as well. Once Armaldo was weakened, Roxy merely sent Gliscor in to attack with guillotine, which was a potential one-hit KO move, though it rarely worked. However, with Armaldo unable to land offense for a good time, Roxy's Gliscor had numerous opportunities to attempt the move, until at last it connected, and Gliscor got the knockout in stunning fashion. Steven Stone was surprised at the combination Roxy had used, but he had tricks up his sleeve as well. His last pick was Aggron, and this time he had a much stronger monster to counter Gliscor. Sure enough, Gliscor was unable to do much against the beast, and Roxy had to call him back. Roxy used Noivern for her final pick, which gave her a strong pokémon to face off against Aggron. Steven Stone had his Aggron use rock attacks like rock slide and stone edge, but Roxy had expected it, and she sent Noivern up high to avoid the brunt of it. When there was an opening, Noivern used absorb to drain some of Aggron's health, and then used roost to heal as well. Aggron was able to land more rock throws on occasion, but Noivern managed to heal constantly using absorb and roost, prolonging the battle to the point where Aggron's health ran very low. Only then, did she send Noivern in with focus blast, which had fighting type properties, and thus was four times effective against Aggron. This was a move Steven Stone was simply not expecting, since it was rare for a Noivern to know it, and the surprise tactic gave Roxy the knockout and the win. Another big upset was added to the list for this year's tournament as Roxy eliminated Steven Stone.

The audience cheered loudly for Roxy, while Holden and the others ran over to celebrate with her. As soon as she saw them coming, Roxy covered up, trying to hide from them. When Holden saw it, he managed to keep everyone off her so she wouldn't be bombarded. Even so, Berto wrapped his arms around her shoulders and hugged her, proud of her performance. She nodded her head and walked off the field with her roommate, while Holden looked on in great admiration. He never would have guessed his former roommates from Lumiose would become such inspiring figures in his life.

With the first round over for the day, there would be a break for the next hour, so that the combatants could heal their pokémon. However, once it was over, the fighting would pick right back up again.


	16. Chapter 60

CHAPTER 60.

It was time for the quarter finals to begin, and the first match would be Kelly versus Tito. Despite the common friends they shared, they would put all of it aside for the pokémon battle. Kelly led out with Golem while Tito used Sylveon. Right away, Kelly got aggressive with Golem, and used magnitude and earthquake to keep the ground shaking so that Sylveon didn't have time to use her fairy abilities. Tito didn't panic, and instead had Sylveon use attract to eventually calm Golem down, since they were opposite genders. From there, Sylveon used moonblast to land a powerful strike on Golem, but he endured the hit and attempted a counter attack. Unfortunately, Golem was still held up by attract, and he ended up failing to launch his next attack, giving Sylveon enough time to use moonblast again to get the KO. Kelly sent out Chesnaught next and used mud shot to do some damage while lowering Sylveon's accuracy. Since Chesnaught was part fighting type, Sylveon was able to get in some damage with draining kiss, while also hoping that Kelly would overlook the type disparity. However, she was aware, and eventually her Chesnaught used sludge bomb, another unexpected specially taught move, and that took out Sylveon. Tito didn't let it ruin his momentum, though, and he went with Dragonite next. From there, his power began to overwhelm Kelly with special attacks, especially ice beam. Chesnaught was unable to get in close to use his physical attacks, so he was trying special attacks that were far inferior to Dragonite's. Ultimately, he went down, and Kelly was down to her last pick. She sent out Lapras, and Tito was disappointed to be in this tough predicament, because Lapras unleashed her ice attacks in full force and Dragonite was far too weak to them to endure for very long. For his final pick, Tito chose Gyarados, and both of their water beasts began to duel wildly at close range. After a hard fought clash of headbutts, bites, and more, it was the more ferocious Gyarados who finally came out on top, ending the fray with outrage. Kelly sighed as she accepted her defeat, but she did it graciously, and shook hands with Tito respectfully as her outstanding tournament run came to an end.

The next battle was a monumental one, for it was the first time Cynthia and Iris would ever face each other in battle. They did not disappoint, as they sent out Garchomp versus Salamence right out the gate, and the crowd went wild at the dual dragon battle. Though Iris was known as the dragon trainer, it was Cynthia's Garchomp who outlasted Salamence, finally ending the affair with a blast of dragon breath. Once Iris sent out Archeops next, Cynthia used the mega stone to bring Mega Garchomp to the field. Though Archeops did some nice damage, she was inevitably taken down by Mega Garchomp's tremendous power. Iris sent out Haxorus for her final pick, and Cynthia ended up switching over to Gastrodon so that her Mega Garchomp could get some rest. The two battled furiously, but Gastrodon kept on using mud slap and mud bomb to lower Haxorus's accuracy, until eventually it led to victory for Cynthia. It was the first time Iris had essentially been dominated in years, and she was pretty shocked, but she knew Cynthia was incredibly powerful, as did the fans.

Next up was Habs versus Diantha, and unfortunately for Holden and Tito's friend, Diantha's Mega Gardevoir remained on another level. She led out with her trademark pokémon and quickly overwhelmed Electabuzz. After that, Durant and Gengar went down shortly after, though Habs did everything he could to get them to work around Mega Gardevoir's power. In the end, he had to accept his placing, for Diantha was still on top of the world of pokémon battles. Being that she was a movie star as well, she spent several moments after speaking with Habs before they both made their exit, and Holden suspected they'd be spending time together in the future.

The last quarter final match was Holden versus Roxy. Before the battle started, he offered her a handshake, and she quietly accepted it. "Let's do this," Holden told her, trying not to let their friendship interfere with a good battle. Roxy appeared to respect Holden's attitude and she was fired up as much as he'd ever seen her. Though she was a very solitary person, they both shared a love for battling. Holden started with Venusaur and Roxy chose Starmie. Knowing that Starmie was capable of psychic attacks, Holden's Venusaur wanted to end the affair quickly, rather than use his typical draining techniques for a slower win, which caught Roxy off guard. Even so, her Starmie unleashed confuse ray and psybeam, hoping to keep Venusaur from landing his strongest moves. Thanks to those tactics, Starmie outlasted her foe, while Venusaur went down from the psychic blasts. Holden switched over to Lapras, where he nullified Starmie's advantages, while also knowing the move thunderbolt. It paid off, and Lapras defeated Starmie in a couple hits. Roxy's team was very weak against Lapras's combination, so she struggled to come up with a pick. She ended up going with Shedinja, who was bug and ghost typing. However, what stood out about her was her ability called wonder guard, which gave her immunity to any attacks that weren't super effective against her, and that meant Lapras had no way to directly attack her. Holden nodded, impressed by Roxy's timing with this pick, and he had to recall Lapras after several moments. With one pick left, Holden had to take time to analyze his team to see who had the ability to land any damage on Shedinja. After nearly being penalized by the referee for stalling, Holden finally sent out Scizor. Sensing victory was close at hand, Roxy had her Shedinja move in with fury swipes. The attack connected, and then she called out for phantom force. After it seemed as though Scizor had no response, he finally made a move and it was aerial ace: a flying type attack, and also one that was super effective against Shedinja. At last, Holden's pokémon was able to land a blow, and it gave him the knockout since Shedinja had no durability once an attack was effective against her. Roxy still had one more pokémon to pick, and she went with Chandelure, which meant she would attack with her fire moves. Holden expected her to go for those attacks early, but that meant so did Scizor. The bug and steel pokémon used double team and agility to speed up and avoid the brunt of it, but instead of attacking directly, Roxy had Chandelure use will-o-wisp to burn Scizor and severely weaken him. Now, it appeared as though she'd get the win, and Chandelure moved in closer, though cautiously, preparing to land a flamethrower to finish the job. Eventually, Scizor fell to the ground, and Roxy ordered the finishing move. The instant she called it out, Scizor leapt up and used night slash, which was super effective against Chandelure. That did some serious damage, but Chandelure survived because Scizor's attack had been lowered from the burn. Sensing that her pokémon would still faint from another hit, Roxy ordered her to use hex, to apply extra damage to the burned Scizor. Scizor was suffering from the burns, and appeared immobilized, but right as Roxy shouted out the command to use fire blast, Scizor leaped forward and connected with x-scissor. Even with little health remaining, Scizor got the knockout, and Holden ended up with the victory after all. He breathed a sigh of relief, after nearly losing the battle on multiple occasions. At this point, he was convinced Roxy was one of the best trainers in the world, and on her way to the top. After it was over, he looked over and saw she was standing in front of him with her hand extended. "It was a good battle," she said in the softest voice, talking to Holden for the first time ever. He smiled and accepted her hand shake. "Same to you."

Since there wouldn't be any more breaks in the competition going forward, the trainers were allowed to heal their pokémon one last time before the semifinals began. The matchups for final four in the competition were Tito versus Cynthia and Diantha versus Holden. The fans were on their feet and cheering with great applause as the final four posed for pictures before going to their positions.

Just before Holden's battle began, Serena appeared at the edge of the field to greet him. He smiled as he went to her, and she gave him a strong hug. "I'm proud of you, Holden," she reminded him. "It feels like you always end up facing Diantha in the tournament, and I know she's really tough. But you've beaten her before, and you can do it again."

He nodded, appreciating her words. After all, she had been there to witness his long standing rivalry with Diantha, and so she was aware of how big a deal this matchup was to him. "Thanks, Serena. Don't worry. My team won't let me down."

She kissed him on the lips and laughed as she looked upon him with excitement and pride. "You found a way to beat her once, so now…you'll find another way, just like you always do. You _always_ find the way."

Holden kissed her back. "That's also thanks to you."

He held her close one more time and then moved to join the ranks on the battlefield. Diantha walked up in front of him and posed for the cameras as well. She glanced back at Serena and then returned her gaze to Holden. "I'm happy to see you two together again," she shared. Holden smiled graciously, but Diantha gave him a stern look immediately after the kind words. "Don't screw it up this time," she advised.

Holden grinned in response and nodded. "I won't," he replied, with no trace of doubt. He held his hand out and Diantha shook it, symbolizing the respect they now had for each other after so many years of feuding. "Let's give them a battle to remember," he suggested.

"I would expect nothing less," Diantha said in response.

With that said, it was time to begin the epic rematch between Holden and Diantha. They both led out with their signature pokémon: Mega Scizor and Mega Gardevoir. Right out the gate, both monsters traded blows as Scizor came in with rapid physical attacks while Gardevoir defended them with psychic moves. Eventually, Scizor switched it up by crawling low to the ground, while Gardevoir was unleashing moon blast and psybeam attacks. Keeping low helped Scizor dodge some of the bigger moves that covered the airspace, but then when Gardevoir began to target the ground, Scizor leapt up high and mixed it up with double team. In addition, Scizor began to charge up with swords dance, since he would have few opportunities to land a big hit on Gardevoir, so when he did, it needed to be strong enough to get an instant KO. Eventually, Gardevoir used future sight, which launched up into the air, where it would come down at a random time. Scizor wasn't going to wait for that move to strike, and he went in with metal claw once Gardevoir was preoccupied. However, Gardevoir used moonblast right as Scizor came in, and the connection was huge. When the dust settled, Scizor could barely stand, though it turned out Gardevoir was knocked out from the critical hit as well. It was a big moment, but then the future sight crashed down and knocked out Scizor anyway, resulting in the double knockout. Diantha insisted that her pokémon had been knocked out first, and therefore, she was insisting she make the first pick. However, Holden refused to let her surrender the advantage and so they both made picks at the same time to keep the bought fair, much to the appreciation of the audience. Holden picked Lapras while Diantha went with Tyrantrum, which put Holden in a good position. His Lapras used confuse ray first before launching water attacks, but Diantha ordered her Tyrantrum to go charging in anyway. He ended up landing head smash, which was a powerful physical rock attack that also did damage to Tyrantrum from recoil. It was very effective over Lapras, but the water and ice pokémon held in there with her high health levels. Sensing she was in jeopardy, however, Holden did something unexpected, and gave out a verbal command. "Lapras, use perish song!" Everyone was stunned when Holden did something completely against his trademark style, and Diantha was stunned for a moment before she tried to react. Diantha was aware that perish song could potentially knock out both pokémon if they remained on the field, so she increased her aggression. Tyrantrum went in to land head smash again, but Lapras used confuse ray, and he ended up missing. After enough time had passed, Diantha predicted the perish song would end, thus knocking both pokémon out, so she switched Tyrantrum out to keep him from going down unnecessarily.

However, nothing ended up happening, and Diantha shook her head in disbelief. The reality of what had occurred sunk in, and she was shocked. _Holden had given a fake command_. She didn't know how his Lapras had been trained like that, but it was true, because the perish song wasn't in place after all, and Lapras had merely sung something harmless to fake it. The audience cheered in massive applause at the intelligent trick, and everyone was in awe at Holden's ability to constantly come up with remarkable techniques.

Diantha sent out Goodra for her last pick, and quickly fired out dragon breath, hoping to defeat Lapras before any ice attacks could be used. Holden wanted Lapras to do something before exiting, so he had her use confuse ray and then switched her out. For his final pick, Holden sent out Snorlax, and Goodra quickly went in with outrage. He landed some heavy blows on Snorlax, and the massive normal type pokémon growled in irritation as he took the hits. However, Snorlax used body slam very suddenly, and that stunned Goodra. While he had an opening, Snorlax used belly drum, which maxed out his attack. After that, he used rest, which put him to sleep and healed his health he'd sacrificed for belly drum. Knowing her time was short before he woke up, Diantha sent Goodra in to land outrage on the sleeping pokémon. She landed a powerful hit, when suddenly Snorlax used sleep talk, which made him attack randomly while asleep. The random move that was chosen was body slam, and his heavy body crashed into the charging Goodra with a fully-powered attack stat behind it. That put her down for the count, and for the second time in his life, Holden had beaten Diantha in a pokémon battle. Once Snorlax woke back up, he smiled a toothy grin upon discovering the victory.

The audience rang out with great applause, and Diantha shook her head in disbelief at the end result. She hurried over to Holden, and he looked at her with concern when she did, but then she merely jumped at him and hugged him tightly. He laughed and hugged her back, and the audience voiced their appreciation for the show of class and respect. After the embrace, Diantha shook Holden's hand and gave him strong words of praise, assuring him she was proud of his performance. With that battle concluded, Holden was now in the grand finals against the winner of the next bout.

The other semifinal bout was between Cynthia and Tito. He knew he was up against one of the strongest trainers in the world, so he wasn't going to underestimate her. He led out with Dragonite to counter her Garchomp, but Cynthia had been smart enough to predict the play, and she started off with Gastrodon. Tito was upset with himself for running into this rough start, and Cynthia took advantage of it. Her Gastrodon immediately used ice beam, which grounded Dragonite and then he went in to land the finishing blow. Dragonite used thunder wave to stun Gastrodon, but right after that, Gastrodon blasted his foe with blizzard, and that scored the first knockout. Tito quickly sent out Gyarados to take advantage of the stunned foe, but Gastrodon used muddy water to strike Gyarados and lower his accuracy. It was enough for Gastrodon to land an ice beam, which did only minor damage, but also slightly froze Gyarados, which grounded him. Bad luck had been prevalent for Tito so far, and Cynthia continued to seize every advantage that came. She switched out from Gastrodon and used her Lucario next, who used power-up punch repeatedly to raise his attack on the incapacitated Gyarados. By the time the ice thawed and Gyarados was free, Lucario was strong enough to land rock tomb and knock out Gyarados in a single hit. Tito had one pick left, and he sent out Blaziken, who at least had the typing to even things out. He used the mega stone on Blaziken to turn him mega, but that caused Cynthia to do the same with Lucario. Now it was mega versus mega, and they both used fighting type moves on each other, trying to score the knockout. Tito regained focus, realizing that his Blaziken needed to use his fire advantage, so he backed away and tried attacking from range. That was a good plan, but it ended up being too little too late, as Lucario came in fast with extreme speed, and got the final knockout. Despite Tito's impressive run through the tournament, Cynthia still came out on top with energy to spare. She reminded the entire world watching just how strong a trainer she still was, and that meant she would face Holden in the grand finals.

Just before the bout began, Holden and Cynthia stood before each other with focus and determination on their faces. The biggest battle of their lives to date was about to take place, and neither of them intended on falling short on the grandest stage. "I've waited a long time for this moment," Cynthia broke the silence. "At last, we get to battle, Holden Hoffman. I truly hope you can show me what you're capable of."

He grinned and pressed a hand over his heart. "You'll see all that and more."

Cynthia nodded and motioned to his orbs. "Shall we agree to our first picks? I think these fans deserve a reasonable starting pair."

It was a confident move, and Holden was too busy enjoying the verbal fencing battle to back away now. "I like it. What if I use Snorlax and you go Milotic?"

She tilted her head. "An interesting suggestion, but I would prefer to start with Garchomp and you start with Scizor."

He laughed and shook his head. "No, I think Scizor's closing this one out for me. So…you go Garchomp and I'll go Kangaskhan?"

The suggestion was better to Cynthia, but she had yet another offer. "What if I pick my strongest three, in this order: Lucario, Milotic, and Garchomp?"

"Then…" said Holden. "…You'd want me to go Venusaur, Lapras, and Scizor?"

After reviewing the order, Cynthia was satisfied. "I accept. Let's do it then."

"I accept as well," said Holden. "Should make it a clean battle that way." It was a remarkable sight to behold, and the fans were amazed at how confident both trainers were as they determined both teams and order openly. Of course, there was the potential that they could change their minds mid battle, but with the reputations both masters had, not a single soul watching would dare doubt their words.

It was time to begin the battle, and out came Venusaur and Lucario. Cynthia's Lucario quickly used power-up punch numerous times, while Venusaur used leech seed and stun spore on his foe. He couldn't use toxic, since Lucario was a steel type, but the grass moves were helping to drain his foe so that Venusaur could constantly heal along the way. However, Lucario powered up his attack enough to unleash a blaze kick, which had fire qualities and impacted Venusaur with a nasty burn. With only enough energy left for one final move, Venusaur unleashed a solar beam which blasted Lucario and nearly knocked him out, though the burn finally ended Venusaur's run.

With the order predetermined, Holden honored it and sent out Lapras next. Lucario was eager to land close combat, which could potentially defeat Lapras in a single hit, but Lapras was ready for the move. Lucario was still weighed down by leech seed and stun spore, so Lapras added confuse ray to that mix. While Lucario was confused, he accidentally attacked himself, and with his attack stat so high, he knocked himself out. That evened the battle now.

Following Holden's conduct, Cynthia honored the agreed upon order, and went with Milotic. It was two water types battling now, but only Lapras was equipped with thunderbolt, which she used right away to severely hurt Milotic, though it didn't get the knockout. Milotic used recover to heal up, and then attacked with hydro pump. Not only was Lapras resistant to water, but she also had the ability dry skin, which caused her to heal from water attacks. Despite the setback, Cynthia remained confident as she moved on to command Milotic to use dragon tail. Lapras fired off another thunderbolt, and it was at the same time Milotic used twister. The electric shock finished off Milotic, but the twister stayed on the field and Lapras was too weak to endure any more abuse, so it was a double knockout.

In a remarkable setting, it came down to the final two, and it would be a battle of Holden and Cynthia's signature mega pokémon. Mega Scizor versus Mega Garchomp, and they were ready like their trainers were. To start things off, Scizor used agility, double team, and swords dance, while Garchomp used sandstorm to lower visibility while he powered up with swords dance as well. Both signature pokémon hung back until they were powered up and then they went in to attempt to land the finishing blow. Scizor threw out night slash, but missed thanks to Garchomp's sand attack. After that, Garchomp attempted dragon rush, but it struck one of Scizor's doubles instead. They kept on attacking and kept on missing, dragging the match on remarkably long. With both pokémon committing to nearly identical tactics, they pushed it to the point where a single hit could win the entire tournament. Finally, the sandstorm subsided, while all their power-up moves diminished due to the time, and both beasts were fatigued, though still relatively unharmed. Cynthia decided to switch it up and ordered her Garchomp to use substitute, leaving a fake on the field in front of Scizor. The purpose of this was unclear, but Scizor was not going to slow down now, and he launched himself high above the substitute to come down at the real Garchomp with metal claw. As soon as he dove down, Garchomp used dig, which got him out of harm's way. Scizor smashed into the ground and then turned to search for his foe. He saw the ground unsettling up ahead, and it appeared to be where Garchomp was surfacing, so Scizor aimed his claws there and got ready. Suddenly, the substitute appeared to land a tackle of its own, catching Scizor completely off guard. It turned out Garchomp had launched some sort of special attack while underground to fake the tunnel exit, only to be sitting where he'd originally burrowed under. As for the substitute, it hadn't actually attacked, but Garchomp had used it to make Scizor overthink the strategy, leading to the blunder. Fortunately, Scizor resisted physical attacks well, and since Garchomp's attack power ups had worn off, Scizor wasn't slowed down much by the move. In a counter attack, Scizor unleashed aerial ace and connected, sending Garchomp backwards in a growling frenzy. The beast endured the hit and opened his mouth to launch dragon rage. Scizor covered up to defend the move, but dragon rage did consistent damage no matter the defense anyway, so Scizor took the hit all the same. His health was low now, so he had to land the finishing move soon. With one final tactic Holden had shown him, Scizor used swords dance and leapt up high, baiting Garchomp to attempt some projectile special attacks. Sure enough, Garchomp launched flamethrower, which would be incredibly effective against Scizor if it landed. Fortunately, Holden's Scizor evaded the blast and came dropping back down to prepare an attack of his own. He aimed a metal claw for Garchomp and came in full speed from the air up in front of Garchomp, but Cynthia ordered a fire blast to be launched. Just before landing it, however, Cynthia saw one of the double team Scizors coming in behind her Garchomp. "Garchomp! Duck down and then launch fire blast forward!" Just as she said it, Garchomp ducked down low, and the two Scizor's collided with each other…or so it seemed until they both vanished, revealing they were both doubles. The real Scizor appeared above Garchomp from behind, and he flexed his claws for a moment as he came diving in. "Above and behind!" Cynthia shouted, and her Garchomp reacted accordingly. He looked up and launched flamethrower, since it was faster, and it struck Scizor head on. The explosion of fire was vicious, and Scizor fell to the ground in a daze. It had been an incredible display of synchronicity between pokémon and trainer, and that was the end of the battle, with Cynthia becoming the new National Champion.

There was so much applause that it shattered people's eardrums, and the crowd went absolutely nuts. Cynthia smiled as she looked around and saw the people jumping up and down in the stands and shouting with everything they had in excitement. It had been perhaps the most epic pokémon battle ever witnessed, and Cynthia had won it. She was incredibly happy and a few tears came to her eyes at the spectacle around her. She hadn't felt this way in a long time. After all these years, she still maintained a strong passion for this sport.

Before anything else, Cynthia looked over at Holden who was just smiling back at her. He wasn't even upset at the loss and he called back his Scizor and walked over to shake Cynthia's hand. She nodded in respect for him and accepted the good sportsmanship. "Now _that_ was a good battle," said Holden.

Cynthia crossed her arms as she grinned proudly. "Sure was."

Eventually, the fans poured in to go celebrate with Cynthia, along with Diantha and other council members, while Holden walked to the side where his friends and loved ones were all there for him. They stood in a line and clapped for Holden; giving him all the respect they possibly could to show him just how much he'd inspired them. Serena was there, along with Augustine, Ash, Clemont, Bonnie, Berto, Roxy, Kelly, Tito, Habs, Kirk, and more. It was Serena who pointed her right finger up to the sky, as if to symbolize the logo for Apex Academy in some mystical sense. When she did it, everyone else in the line followed suit, and suddenly Holden watched in astonishment as the entire audience began to match the hand motion as well in support. It was a magical moment for him, and he would never forget it.

At some point afterward, Holden caught sight of none other than Dwyer, along with his little brother, Sam. They were approaching the big circle of friends surrounding Holden, and he exited it to go and see them. Dwyer still looked deflated from his defeat, and Holden saw no reason to be any harder on him. "Next year, Dwight," he told his nemesis with enthusiasm.

Dwyer sighed and nodded. "I was wrong about you, Holden," he explained. "In fact, I wasn't wrong: I was simply dishonest. You're a great trainer, and I always knew you were. I just thought…if I discredited you, I'd be able to rise up. And it was working at first, but now…I don't know what to do."

Holden looked down at Sam, who was quietly staring at Holden, as if he shared in his brother's pain. "You have your brother," Holden said calmly. "He looks up to you. I got where I am today thanks to the people looking out for me. I didn't want to let them down, and they inspired me more than I can put into words. You may not always feel like it, but you are capable of inspiring others in the same way. You have a talent, now it's time you stopped abusing it and put it to the best possible use."

It was hard for Dwyer to fully digest Holden's advice, but he was listening for a change and that was a good start. "I'm sorry, Holden," he said the unthinkable. "For all the things I said. But don't think this is over, because I'll be back even stronger next time." Holden grinned at Dwyer's words and turned back to his friends. If only Dwyer realized what Holden had in store next.

Finally, Holden ended up with Serena in his arms as they stood by the lake just beyond the tree line away from the tournament fields. It was in this natural beauty that Holden brought up something important with her. "Serena," he got her attention. "I need to tell you something."

She looked at him with serious eyes and gave her full attention. "Yes, Holden?"

"What happened today…and this entire tournament…made me realize I have all the answers I need now," he explained. "And after this…I know what comes next." She looked at him with intrigue, and he motioned to her heart. "You've spent the last few years supporting my dream, and now it's my turn to support yours. When you leave to fulfill your dream of being a performer and actress…I would like to go with you."

Serena's eyes grew wide with excitement, though she also contained reluctance. "That would be so wonderful, Holden, but…your school needs you, and so do your friends. I couldn't do that to you."

He held both her hands passionately and looked into her blue eyes with honesty. "My academy needed me…before. But now, nothing can stop them, and they'll do fine, even without me around. And as for pokémon battles, well..." He looked around to make sure they were both alone, and then he ushered a surprising revelation. "I taught Scizor one last trick at the end there, and let's just say…he take one for the team."

Serena tried to figure out what he meant, and then she recalled the battle where Scizor was just above Garchomp. "You mean…you instructed him to _lose_?"

Holden quickly covered Serena's mouth with two fingers and gave her a stern look. "_Never _tell anyone else about that, deal? Our secret," he whispered and smiled warmly. She giggled and nodded, which caused Holden to put his hands on her shoulders. "This is for real now, Serena. I'll go with you, if you'll have me. I'm retiring from pokémon battles, and that's why I didn't want to become champion once again. Wherever you need to go to travel and perform, I'll be there to see it through with you. Perhaps…I can be your manager. One way or another, you won't ever be alone."

With a nervous smile, Serena nodded her head at last. "Yes, of course. I love you, and I want you to come with me!" At last, she was convinced that he meant every word he said, and she was sure everything would be just fine.

"I love you too," he told her passionately, and they kissed each other's lips. At last, they had found the path to take together in life. Even with things not totally clear up ahead, the one thing that _was_ clear was that they would do it together. After all the wonderful experiences they'd shared together in the past few years, and even with the downs when things were rocky, they knew now that it was all just the beginning for them. They had a long path ahead, and many more wonders and treasures lied in wait before they reached the apex of their relationship…even if it seemed absurd.

THE END


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